Tether (hold tight)
by mari-doll
Summary: Ace dies, and Sabo leaves. Luffy has been searching for two years, determined to find the only brother he has left. When his search dead-ends yet again, Shanks calls him to the Sinnoh region. But now Shanks is missing, and Luffy's last hope of reaching him lies within an unusual traveling companion who just wants to go home. Subtle lawlu, pokemon au
1. home again

He arrives at Canalave to find it as he left it.

The same smell of brine and smoke in the air, ever present in the port city. The same cobbled, grey stones that form streets, and the same red iron that breaks it where a bridge needs to be. The same deep canal smack in the middle, same hubbub of people milling about -passengers boarding, crew docking, kids ship-watching. Yes, the same as he had left it.

The first thing he does is stroll into a shop and buy a map.

It's not anything extraordinary. More than a tourist pick, but standard for locals -it would get you where you needed. It folded nicely, wasn't too big. A fine map.

He forks over a sum for it, no trouble. It was the same kind of currency no matter where you went in the world. Holding it in his hands, he nods to the cashier bidding him safe travels and marvels at the folded paper, at the first step towards the goal he'd set for himself.

Upon realizing the pen he's been carrying around has finally ran out of ink, he quickly shuffles back into the shop.

He grabs for a better pen, spends a good second looking at the limited choices, more than his time deciding a map. Pens were always good to have -he wanted one to last a bit. When he finally chooses one, picks it out of the bunch, the stand next to him catches his eye.

It's full of markers. The blocky, permanent ones. Without wasting a second, he snatches one up, and as he departs the store a second time, he lets an air of satisfaction hang around him.

He's quick to uncap the marker while he's pulling apart the map. Scanning for a moment to locate the city, he moves his finger down, into the crest of Mount Coronet then out to the side, and nods once. He flicks the marker with finality, and the once-overlooked spot becomes home to a thick black 'X'.

He caps the marker and slips it back into his pack, then folds the map down to size and stuffs it in his jacket.

Walking through the streets wasn't exactly planned, but he can't find himself suitably bothered as his feet carry him to the library at the edge of the canal. The building looms over him, as tall as he remembered. He'd spent a lot of time in there, searching for a place far, far away. As soon as he found it, he left the region.

That had been sixteen years ago.

He shakes his head to startle from his thoughts and averts his attention to something -anything- else. Then he decides it'd be best to just leave.

And so that's what he does.

His feet carry him easily to the east edge of town, and he only needs glance at the map for a moment before moving forward into the wilderness.

* * *

He walks for a time, crushing underbrush below his feet and steadily trekking away from the city. The map rested as a comforting weight in his back pocket. It was a bit hard to keep on course as the land wanted to veer off and drive him down south, and he wished more than once that he'd had some sort of compass. At the very least something that would react to the magnetic pull of Mount Coronet, that way he'd always know he was heading towards the center of the mainland.

When he hits the edge of the land, he stops abruptly. His feet chip away at the earth and send small pebbles down into the channel below. It was still a fair distance across, but he could see the mainland on the other side. Law steps back and looks along the sides, figuring where the path to the water was less steep. He settles on a direction shortly and heads over to the lower spot.

His mind wanders at this point, now that he can afford it to. It's not a bad memory that surfaces, but most of his from Sinnoh weren't. Most.

He'd been ten by the time he'd made it to the channel that cut the mainland from Canalave. Despite having money, his Abra was clutched to his chest. You couldn't buy a pokeball without a trainer's license, and unluckily for him, his couldn't acquire one before everything had happened.

After wandering the coast for a bit, a pack of Gastrodon and Shellos had caught on to his plight. He was a little anxious as one swam over, Abra's claws squeezing into his forearm to let him know his pokemon felt the same. But the creature stopped short and threw its head in the direction of the opposite shore, making a questioning sound in its throat.

He'd ended up on the back of its brown shell, surrounded by the others, and carried safely to the other side. That was how things had always worked in Sinnoh. All pokemon were generally kind, never aggressive for no reason. Everyone sought to live in cooperative peace.

This time, he can cross on his own.

He sends out Brionne and slips the map into the safety of his bag, slinging it back onto his shoulders as she lets out a cry and stretches her limbs. It had been a bit since she'd been out, he supposes. With her help, getting across to the other shore leaves little more than his lower half wet, something he's not overly concerned about. Despite living in much more heated climates since departing the region, growing up in Sinnoh was something that never left you. He was relatively unaffected by the colder environment. As long as he kept moving, his clothes would dry out eventually.

The path ahead is a forest, with little landmarks that would lead him to Jubilife. He resolves himself and returns Brionne, venturing forward. Overhead, Wingull fly around, squawking. It would be a little irking, but he finds it brightens his mood a bit, in counter to it dampening with the long route without any trail guides.

He passes a tree that has a Chatot occupying a lower branch, beak opening to sing a little tune. The map is open in his hands, but it's not detailed enough to provide assistance. He glances up at the sky and finds it had taken longer than expected to reach the channel. If the route was as long as he suspected, there was no way he'd reach the city before nightfall.

At some point he spies a Floatzel peering at him from some underbrush. Upon making eye contact, it moved to slink behind a tree. He can recognize the gleam on its face, a hunger for battle, and politely waves at it. It blinks, but as he moves forward, ultimately lets him alone.

It takes tripping over multiple tree roots in the fast fading sunlight for him to realize to stop for the night. He folds the map and puts it in his pack in exchange for a thin sleeping bag. Camping out on the ground and under the stars wasn't an usual thing for him at this point in his life, after all. And since he was still very much in southern Sinnoh, he didn't have to worry about it getting too cold.

When he wakes in the morning, he finds Umbreon had made her way into the bag and nestled against his side. Although he feels fine, the fact that she was there tells him it'd been more of a restless night than he thought. Being here was affecting him after all.

He lets her join him for a quick breakfast, gathering a few things from his pack as she goes to collect berries. They're in luck, as the persim berries she brings back look plenty ripe. He's examining one as a small noise gets his attention.

A Glameow stands not far from them, a couple kits swiping at each other at her feet. He follows her eyes to the berries and sighs, beckoning them closer. As the pokemon gathers her young, he gives the berries to Umbreon to slice up with her claws. Once everything is ready, he offers some of the pink fruit to the Glameow family, who accept it. They enjoy a meal together that morning.

Law reaches Jubilife by noon that day. His map is tucked back into his pocket, and his hands dig for spare change as he eyes the eateries along the streets. Normally it would be best to get through the city as quickly as possible, but he'd foregone majorly stocking on supplies until arriving in Sinnoh, so shopping around a bit was unavoidable. He'd grab some food to avoid using what he had for the road while he was here, and then gather all other necessities on his way out.

His first choice was probably not the best, as he steps in and is met with a cacophony of noise right away. He makes his way to the counter and settles on a seat, ordering something simple and then glancing to the other end, where someone appeared to be partaking in an eating challenge.

His food comes quickly and he picks at it, his attention caught by the event not unlike many other patrons of the restaurant. The pile of food on the platter was nearly gone by the time Law finished his own small meal, and he'd gathered it had to be finished before the timer on the counter ran to zero, which was still a few minutes away.

He's sipping on his drink when it happens. One of the workers fumbles with a remote, and the television on the other end of the place gets a volume raise that catches the attention of many people, including the challenger, whose head jerks in the direction of the noise, a news reporter barking about some small-scale event.

Law's attention is captured by something else. While the noise distracted others, another worked came and quickly fumbled with the back of the timer, then moved his hand to point at it once finished, calling for time almost being done to the challenger. The thirty second mark had passed.

The volume lowers a little on the television and Law scoffs in his seat, turning back to his empty plate and glaring at it. His ears prick as a panicked noise leaves the challenger, but there's no way to finish the food with the time left. The altered time left. He gestures for a worker and pays for his meal, breathing out a sigh.

Disappointment sweeps throughout the diner as people see the challenger has lost. They quickly turn back to their own conversations, losing interest. No one had caught on like Law had, apparently. These people knew what they were doing. Well, that, or everyone ignored it instead. Both options were completely plausible.

He grits his teeth as the workers demand payment, eyes turning to the challenger who looks completely caught off-guard. Suddenly he finds himself rising from his seat, not even bothering to respond to the 'have a nice day' his server left him with. He wanders over to the other end of the counter as the challenger sputters. More features come into view. Messy hair, dark eyes, scrawny form. Young.

Law comes to a stop near the empty seat beside the boy and surprises himself when he speaks. "How much?"

The couple workers hounding the kid look at him silently for a moment before barking out the total. The panicked look on the kid's face is all he needs to see before sighing and forking over the correct amount. The servers move on after that, and the kid gawks at him.

Sighing again, Law jerks his head towards the door, and the kid catches on, standing up and moving with him out onto the streets.

"Thank you!" he blurts out. Law shakes his head.

"Just be more careful. Everyone in this city gets a kick out of screwing people over." One of the reasons he was very keen on leaving as quickly as possible. He frowns. Now a portion of his funds was gone, all on a whim. Stupid. If he'd just minded his own business-

"Oh! If you know that that means you're from here, right? So you must know your way around the region?"

Well. He hesitates, then slowly nods. "Yeah, I guess."

Immediately the kid is in his face. "Great! Then take me to Veilstone!"

His brain nearly short-circuits. "Wha-? No! Why?"

"Shanks should be there." He pauses, crosses his arms over his chest. "He was supposed to meet me on an island off the western coast, but he wasn't there, so he must be at Veilstone."

Law frowns, parsing the words as he examines the kid. He really wasn't dressed for the climate, and if he was foreign to the region, Law could sure believe it by that alone. Ugh, but who was he kidding! Veilstone was on the complete other side of the region, and he only had one goal in coming back here in the first place.

"Look, I already have somewhere to go, and it's in the opposite direction of Veilstone. Just go buy a map and hike there yourself. People will help you out along the way, they're not completely heartless." It was actually how a lot of travel was done, with relying on guide from the locals. Sinnoh didn't have any main system of transportation, no railways or ships that worked the interior. Coronet was the obstacle preventing this, but the mountainous areas covering the region didn't help either. There wasn't much to see in the likes of routes for vehicles, limiting that mode of transportation to inner-city travel. Footpaths were the main thing, and even then it was a winding mess of up and down, back and forth, to traverse the difficult land. People had to adapt to helping others, there was no way to travel without it. Hell, Law had only been in the region for two days now and his journey had dragged on longer than expected already.

"But I'm really bad with directions!" The kid whines. "Like, you don't understand. I thought this was Veilstone, but apparently this is Jubilife! And I don't have time to get lost every other step, I have to get to Shanks!" He stops for a moment, sucking in a breath before chewing on his lip. "I'm actually . . really worried. He's the one who summoned me here, but when I showed, he was nowhere to be found. I'm really hoping he's at Veilstone, I have no idea where he'd be otherwise. He wouldn't ask me here if it wasn't important, and I'm . ." His eyes downcast, trained now on the spotty pavement at their feet. "I'm not very good at looking for people anyway."

Law opens his mouth but doesn't get the chance to say anything before rain begins to fall around them. He turns his attention to the sky, failing to have noticed its overcast state before. He sighs and hikes up his hood, then winces as the kid shivers in front of him, wrapping arms tighter around his chest. He sighs again, deeply, and resides himself. "Fine."

The kid looks up and Law holds up a hand. "There's somewhere we need to go first, though."

He tips his head. "Where?"

He's never said it aloud. He'd made up his mind, and now he was here doing it, but there was something different altogether in stating your intentions. It makes them real. It was real, now. And the word leaves him easily, resolve set long ago, now solidified.

"Home."

* * *

They get the kid -Luffy- a jacket before leaving the city. And a scarf, at Law's insistence, even though it bites into Luffy's funds. He'd thank Law later. The worn sandals he wore probably wouldn't be much of a problem, considering it was late spring now, and snow didn't begin to take form across the region until early fall.

Luffy was from Kanto. Or, one of the islands south of Kanto. Law hadn't known they existed, so it was easier to remember it as Kanto. Shanks was his teacher, which Law found interesting. When he asked of it, though, the response was strange.

"Yeah!" Luffy chuckles, a peculiar, quiet thing. "He's training me so I can use-" Then he breaks off, abrupt and uncharacteristic, enough to make Law pause in his walk and glance over. Luffy catches his eye and then he's shaking his head, a more sheepish look on his face. "Ah, I shouldn't say."

Fair enough. They dropped it at that.

Luffy is fascinated with each of the native pokemon they come across, stopping to admire a Shinx here and a couple Starly there. Law resides himself to another night under the stars before they reached the crest of the lower mountain ranges created by Mount Coronet. He'd made sure to properly stock up on everything he'd need for the journey, and now for the extended portion as well. That was . . going to be a lot of work. He supposed he did sign up for this, but, well. Veilstone was a long way off. It was more than just on the other side of Mount Coronet, it was in the upper half, more even with Eterna than with Jubilife. At least it wasn't as far reaching as it could be, like Sunyshore or, god forbid, Snowpoint. Still, the kid couldn't have picked a more tricky destination from their current location.

"Luffy-ya," he calls, getting the younger's attention. He'd been waving at a passing group of Kricketot. "Do you have something to sleep on in that bag of yours?"

He nods an affirmative, then quickly steps to keep pace with Law, sandals slapping on the ground. "I've been out traveling for a long time now, so you don't have to worry! I didn't drop all my stuff to come to Sinnoh, though I didn't expect to have to cross the region like this." He lets out a laugh and Law rolls his eyes. Right, that was one less thing to fret over.

"Traveling, huh? For gym badges? Or, for that training with Shanks-ya?"

"No, no." Luffy waves him off. "My brother was the competitive trainer, not me. And it's been a while since I've seen Shanks in person." He frowns suddenly. "Hey, you did it again. That add-on in names . ."

Ah. Law moves his eyes away. "Yeah, it's uh, a verbal tic. Something I picked up in the region. Never really went away."

"Oh! That's cool, then." Luffy moves to put his arms behind his head, glancing around again. "You mentioned going home. How long has it been since you've left?"

Oh. That. Law sighs. "I guess . . around sixteen years?"

"Si-" Luffy sputters, stops, then stops walking, his eyes blown. "That long?!"

Law looks away again, still walking forward. He gestures for Luffy to hurry up. "Yeah. You'll see, I guess." He could have secrets too. They'd just met, after all. Though, if Luffy was tagging along, he'd probably find out eventually.

They reach the Oreburgh Gate early the next day, before the sun has fully risen. Law had been surprised to have woken so early, but was quick to get moving. They had a lot of ground to cover. It was a bit more of a surprise to see Luffy up and full of energy as well, but maybe Law had just read him wrong.

The Gate was less of a gate in the actual sense and more of a passage. Oreburgh was a mining city that was built right into the side of Mount Coronet, so you had to enter the range to get to it. The Gate was an opening in a strip of mountain that surrounded the city. It was essentially the cave you had to pass through in order to scale the mountain and reach Oreburgh, hence the name. He does his best to explain it to Luffy, but apparently the only mountain exposure the Indigo regions had were plateau-like structures in the northernmost areas, and Mount Silver that sat between Johto and Kanto and didn't interfere with either very much. But Law supposes Sinnoh's landscape would be a shock to anyone who hadn't grown up with it. It wasn't often that you had a giant mountain range smack in the middle of the region, dividing it so thoroughly, and covering the rest of the land in mountain sprawls.

It hadn't been exactly light outside, but it sure wasn't anything compared to the darkness of the cave. Law lets out Umbreon, and the rings on her fur provide a little light, enough for them to move forward.

Luffy is positively buzzing with excitement, enough to make Law a little nervous. Not being able to see was bad enough, but he didn't know how wild pokemon were in Kanto, what they were prone to. What Luffy would do if they came across one here wasn't something Law was looking forward to-

And one which was happening right now.

Luffy lets out a squeal of excitement that gets the Geodude's attention. "A Geodude! Law! I didn't know they were here too! Oh wait, wait." And now he was fumbling, and was that a pokeball? Oh no, no-

"Wait, Luffy-ya-"

"Aipom, come check this out!"

Too late, one of Luffy's pokemon appears. It's a purple monkey-like pokemon that, oddly, suits the trainer. While Law is noticing this, Luffy calls for a brick break attack and the Aipom jumps forward, fist glowing.

Law winces at the impact, and as Luffy runs forward to investigate, sighs aloud. This kid.

The Geodude is definitely unconscious, knocked out by the powerful hit. Luffy is praising Aipom, and then the pokemon is hanging around his neck and they're both chuckling. Law rubs his head. It was too early for this.

Thankfully the short-lived battle doesn't trigger any other encounters, and they make it through the cave avoiding trouble. Law had tried to explain to Luffy that only certain pokemon in Sinnoh actively looked for battle, but it was another culture thing that flew over his head, and Law gave up after a bit. He'd deal with it when it became a problem.

Exiting the cave, they can see it's much lighter than when they first entered. Law is suddenly glad they left as early as they did, if it took them this long. Luffy makes a noise of excitement and runs down the incline, tripping a few times. Since Oreburgh sat in a dip, and they had climbed up by entering the Gate, they had to go back down a bit to reach the city.

That doesn't mean they can't already see it, though, sprawled out before them. In the distance Law can see the plumes of smoke that must be from the coal processing factory. He'd bet the mines were around there too, so they'd avoid that area.

He wrinkles his nose at the thought. Though passing through Oreburgh had been part of his original route, he still loathed the city, even more than Jubilife. The quicker they could get through, the better.

"Hey, Traffy!" Luffy calls. "I'm hungry, can we stop somewhere to eat here?"

Law knew he would regret telling the kid his full name, but he'd done it so openly first that Law couldn't resist. And now this . . nickname, he supposed, was the price to pay for it. Maybe Sinnoh names were just too difficult for Luffy. He'd certainly butchered it enough times before settling on 'Traffy', even as Law had told him just to use his first name.

Apparently nicknames were the kid's thing, so Law resided himself.

"Yeah, sure," he answers back.

It doesn't take long to reach the city. Unlike the stone of Canalave or the concrete of Jubilife, Oreburgh's streets are made of compacted earth. It's easier to tell like this that the city was made by digging up the mountain, that its foundations were made in ore itself.

Luffy jogs ahead but pauses upon spotting something. He points at it and turns back to Law. "Is that a vent?"

Law looks as well and is somewhat surprised. "Yeah, I think . ." That was strange. There was certainly nothing like that the last time he was here. Then again, it had been such a long time since then that he supposed he shouldn't be surprised by any changes. Still, now that he noticed the one, he couldn't stop seeing them everywhere around the city. There had to be a purpose.

"Maaaaan, Sinnoh sure is weird," Luffy mutters, crossing his arms behind his head. Law holds in a snort. Luffy's Aipom is still hanging from his neck, tail swinging back and forth. When they stop in front of a diner, Luffy returns it and slips the pokeball into a spare pocket. Though it hadn't seemed to have tired from the one-sided battle, Law makes a mental note to stop by a pc for their pokemon before leaving the city.

The diner isn't anything spectacular, but it would do. Law forgets how much Luffy could eat until the boy is ordering, and ordering, and ordering, and their server starts to look a little mind-boggled. Law's order, in comparison, is much easier to handle. Before she could leave, though, Luffy stops her.

He digs around in his pocket and pulls out a small photo, holding it out for her to take. "Have you seen Sabo?" Luffy asks, his voice perking up.

Their server's mouth tips downward a little as she studies the picture, but ultimately shakes her head and hands it back. "No, I haven't sorry."

"Ah, that's fine then. Thank you!" Luffy waves her off and she offers a smile before hurrying to the kitchen. He turns back to see Law staring at him and, after a moment, holds out the picture. Law takes it.

It's very worn, soft and yellowed a bit on the back. Clearly it had seen a lot of use. Pictured was a boy maybe about Luffy's age, with wavy blonde locks and a big smile. Law glances up to Luffy in question and catches the other's small smile. It clicks, then. How similar they are.

Luffy confirms it with his next words. "That's my brother," he tells Law, nodding to the picture. "I'm searching for him."

Ah. That explained what he had said in Jubilife, about not being any good at looking for people. He hesitates, but his curiosity wins out, and he can't help asking. "How long?"

"Two years."

There's a lot of weight in those words. Law can only sit there, shocked. Luffy reaches for the picture and he hands it over numbly, then watches as Luffy carefully tucks it back away, the action so uncharacteristic yet making so much sense. Luffy looks back up and that smile is there again, small and sad.

"All through Kanto," he begins, "And then Johto. I was pretty much done there when I got Shanks' letter, and came here." He sighs, glancing away. "I guess while I'm here, it wouldn't hurt to ask around. Though I've . . never had much luck before." He shrugs. "I mentioned I wasn't any good at looking, right?"

"Do you ask everyone you meet about him?"

"What? No, no." Luffy waves him off. "That would get annoying real quick, and besides, it's faster to just look than to ask around. But, I do make a point to show off the picture a little. Not everyone I come across, but a few people in more populated areas."

Before Law could ask more, their food arrives.

* * *

They exit Oreburgh along the east side, where it borders the mountain, and hike up a bit before heading south, following the range down. Law has the map open in his hands, constantly checking to make sure they were where they needed to be, and his hunched form allows Luffy the chance to look over his shoulder. Law glances back at him when he hears a noise of disdain. Luffy's frowning oddly at the map. "What?"

"Is that 'x' where we're going?" Luffy asks, jerking a finger at the point marked on the map. Law, in turn, jerks the paper away, fearing for a tear from the wild movement.

"Yeah."

"Then why didn't we just head over from Jubilife? What was the point of coming all the way out here?" Luffy complains, slowing his pace.

Law sighs. "I wanted to avoid the river. This route is more indirect, but it was the only way."

Luffy perks up a bit at this. "River?"

"Well, you'll see," Law mutters, turning back to the map. He wasn't quite ready to explain that. Luckily for him, something else catches Luffy's attention. Law glances back over at the boy's excited call.

"Wh-What pokemon is that!" he gasps out.

"A nosepass," Law tells him. "They evolve around Mount Coronet because of the magnetic field, so you mainly find them here." That's right, they were pokemon native to Sinnoh. This was probably going to be another aspect of their journey, stopping to satisfy Luffy's curiosity over new pokemon. Law couldn't blame him, though. He remembered being the same way when he left Sinnoh.

"That's so cool! I wanna battle! Do you think it'll battle with me?"

"Maybe, but we really should get moving-"

"Alright! Let's try it then. Oi! You!" Luffy calls out to the pokemon as he rummages in his pocket for a pokeball, enlarging it as the Nosepass pauses in its shuffling to eye the pair. As Luffy sends out his pokemon, it turns to face him, and Law backs up a little, breathing out a long sigh. Right. So this was happening, then.

It's a Munchlax that ends up being Luffy's second pokemon. That's . . odd. Law frowns. They were normally native to Sinnoh, right?

Luffy calls for a shadow ball that slams right into the Nosepass, but the wild pokemon seems to shake off the effects. It shoots out a jolt that Law recognizes as a thunder wave attack that hits Munchlax directly. Luffy seems as confused as he is on this and jerks his head over to look at him.

"Hey Traffy, help me out here! Is this thing an electric type?"

"No," he calls back. "It's probably due to its sensitivity to the magnetic field. I'd watch out."

Luffy nods, turning back to the battle. "Right! Then let's use chip away, Munchlax!"

The normal type seems to shrug off the thunder wave, or maybe it hadn't set in just yet. Either way, he flies across to the Nosepass and the attack sends it careening back some. Munchlax lands steadily and shouts out a noise of approval.

The Nosepass doesn't take long to recover, standing and lowering its head to look at Munchlax. It lets out a low noise and a pale sphere envelops Munchlax for a moment before disappearing. Law's mouth opens at this, but Luffy doesn't seem to take notice.

"Luffy-ya, be careful!" he calls out. "It's locked on to-"

Quickly, lifts its arms and a few rocks around the area levitate toward it. It shoots them forward straight towards Munchlax in a rock throw attack.

"Uwah, dodge it, quick!" Luffy commands. Munchlax launches himself to the side, but the rocks veer towards the new path and collide with him anyway, thanks to the lock-on attack from before. Law winces and Luffy cries out.

When the dust settles Munchlax is kneeling. He comes to a stand after a moment, but a crackle of electricity stops him from moving further. The thunder wave had finally set in, paralyzing him.

"Geh! That's not good. Oh! Wait! Munchlax, use solarbeam!"

At Luffy's command Munchlax opens his mouth, gathering energy. Law nods in agreement. What a perfect attack; it might just finish the battle. A sizable orb of light has appeared before Munchlax's open mouth when Nosepass moves again, and multiple streams of electricity crackle around it. Law's eyes widen.

It releases the discharge attack just after Luffy calls for Munchlax to hold steady. Law winces as it hits dead on, bringing Munchlax back to a crouch. Surprisingly, when it settles, the energy for the solarbeam attack is still gathered, and when a determined expression from the pokemon, continues to grow. Luffy shouts an encouragement and then, when the orb is built to capacity, orders Munchlax to fire.

Law's still in shock that he held on while being hit with the discharge. The solarbeam slams into Nosepass, sending it crashing into the side of a rock wall. Luffy doesn't give it a chance to rest, ordering for Munchlax to use body slam. As Nosepass is gathering itself still, it has no chance to dodge, and that last attack knocks it out. Munchlax is the victor.

Luffy cries out in excitement, racing forward and tackling Munchlax into a hug. Law releases a breath, letting his limbs relax. He hadn't even known he'd gotten so tensed up.

"Traffy! We won!" Luffy calls to him, picking up Munchlax and spinning him around. Law can't help but smile.

It takes a bit more after that, but eventually, Law finds the landmark he was eyeing on the map and they head down from the cliffs, hiking into the thick forest below. Law still keeps the map out, knowing this would be the harder part of the journey to navigate. When Luffy asks how far they were, Law points it out. Instead of being bothered by the distance, Luffy seemed excited. It doesn't take Law long to figure out, the hum of noise from various pokemon around them answering that pretty clearly.

A Stunky wanders by and captures Luffy's attention, Law careful to mark their place on the map before turning to watch, finding amusement in Luffy's wonder. Starly sing songs and sit on higher tree branches, waving back with their wings as Luffy calls out to them. They come across several pairs of Budew and Roselia, and after a bit, Law gets an idea, beckoning Luffy closer.

"I bet there are some berries around here, with all the grass types. We should gather some for later. Don't go too far, but look around for where some mago berries grow." As Luffy frowns in confusion, Law elaborates. "They're pink, like pecha berries, but they have a yellow bottom. And they curve, like this-" Law gestures the shape with a finger. "The curvier, the better, so go for those."

"I dunno, what if I get lost?"

Hmm. That was true. A noise behind them and Law has an idea. "Ask them," he says, turning to look at the Budew resting on a low-hanging branch. Luffy brightens at the suggestion and nods, hurrying over. "I'll look around here for pecha, so just come back when you've gotten some!"

"Got it!" Luffy stops below the grass types with a huge smile on his face and calls up to them. "Oooi! You two! Will you help me find mago berries?"

The Budew eye him for a moment before popping up and nodding. They call out and a Roselia appears from behind a tree trunk nearby. Since the trees were so thick, it was no trouble for the pokemon to hop between their branches, leading Luffy away.

Law sighs in relief as he turns to go investigate where he remembered pecha plants growing. It truly was different being in Sinnoh again, where wild pokemon were willing to help out anybody who asked.

He finds them without much trouble, only a little surprised that he remembered after all this time. The plant he happens across is thick with ripe fruit, so he's in luck, too. He moves the map to his back pocket and reaches out to pluck some of the fruit. It smelled really sweet, enough to make his mouth water.

"Maybe it's time to let you out," he murmurs. "After all, this is where you came from, too." He picks a couple more berries before reaching for a pokeball, opening it without much fuss. Out comes his Alakazam. He gestures to the plants, and together, they gather a sizable amount. While Law grabs the map to retrace his steps, he lets the psychic-type levitate the fruit they gathered. He doesn't fail to notice the content expression on Alakazam's face, either, or how relaxed he seems. Looks like someone was glad to be home.

When he makes it back to Luffy, the boy has sat down with his own pile of mago fruit. He looks up to Law and smiles real big at him, gesturing towards his stack.

"They're so sweet, Traffy! Roselia had me try one, and then I had like, four! Moga berries are amazing!"

"Mago," Law corrects, but it's without any bite. After a second he settles down himself, and Alakazam lowers the pecha berries to the ground. "We can stop here to eat, it won't hurt."

However, Luffy's attention is now completely on Law's pokemon, a sparkle to his eyes.

"Wow," Luffy breathes, jumping to his feet and stumbling over. "You have an Alakazam! That's so cool! He's so cool!"

"I met him here, in this forest," Law admits. "He was my first pokemon."

"Your starter? Wow!" Luffy laughs, putting his hands on his hips. "So you must be real strong, then," he tells the pokemon. In turn, Alakazam hands him one of the pecha berries, which Luffy is all too eager to snatch up. "Ah! These are sweet too," he moans, almost collapsing. Law can't help but laugh.

"Sit down. Like I was saying, we can eat here."

* * *

As time went on, it became easier to know they were following the right track. Though that notion made Law's heart stutter.

It was because, all around them, the casual hum of wild pokemon began to fade until it was almost nothing, only a spare rustling here and there. Gone were the singing Starly, the wandering Stunky, and the cheery Budew resting in the trees. Everything became quiet.

Eventually, it got to the point that Law stuffed the map back into his pack. He no longer needed it. Everything was familiar enough around him that he could navigate to the clearing on instinct.

While he could tell Luffy seemed to notice, the trainer also did his best to distract Law instead of outright questioning it. The casual questions he fired off weren't anything too terribly unbearable, but some he'd prefer to not answer more than others.

"Hey, Traffy, what do you think of the champion here?"

He purses his lips. Boa Hancock. If he was asking he probably didn't know of her personality. "My sister, Lami, adored her," he tells him. If Luffy noticed he didn't offer up his own opinion, he didn't comment, focusing on something else.

"Oh! You have a sister? That's cool!" He hums a bit. "Hey, does that mean we'll meet her, when we get to your village?"

He stops walking. It's abrupt, and Luffy is caught off guard as he stumbles to a halt as well, looking at him oddly. Law lets out a long sigh.

"No. She's dead."

"Oh . ." Luffy frowns. "I'm sorry-"

"You're okay, Luffy-ya," Law interrupts. He lets his expression soften, some. "Let's just keep moving. We're almost there."

Luffy nods, and they continue forward, silent. There are no more questions after that.

Eventually even the presence of wild pokemon is nowhere to be found. As they move forward, the forest becomes deserted. It causes an ache in Law's chest, but he knows exactly why it's like this.

The sun is low in the sky by the time they enter the clearing. It serves little more than to dye the grass underfoot in a golden hue; before them, everything is still quiet and empty. There is no established ambience to it all.

Law beckons Luffy forward and moves at a steady pace. They pass several homes, all seemingly in good shape on the outside. The grass in the area is only a little overgrown, both in part to having no one to trod it back, but also something inhibiting an insane amount of growth. Like the forest they had just left, it becomes clear they are the only ones around.

He stops in front of a smaller house and takes a moment to stand there, imprinting the sight to his mind. The wooden steps up to the small porch creak as he ascends, but that was nothing new, even while he had lived here. He hesitates a moment at the door, hand on the wood.

It's dusty, inside. He expected it, but it's one thing to tell yourself that and another to actually experience it. Behind him, Luffy sneezes, disrupting the quiet.

"Hey. Where's your family?"

Law finds the edges of his lips quirking up, just slightly. "They haven't been here in a long time," he admits. He moves further into the house and slides his bag off his shoulders, glad to be rid of the weight for now. He sets it leaning against an old chair and looks back at Luffy. "We can stay here for the night."

"Right . ." Luffy trails off, an uneasy expression taking form. He slips his own bag off and sets it against a counter, eyeing the top as he does. It's coated in a thick layer of dust, just like everything else. It might've been better to just sleep outside, but he would go along. When Law wanders off, Luffy digs in his bag for one of the leftover pecha berries and munches on it. Law eventually returns with a ratty scarf tucked underarm. He rings it out and lets a few mothballs float to the floor before folding it up. The patterns on it are interesting, but Luffy can't make sense of it, so he focuses on the condition instead. It was obviously in tatters due to the conditions here. Probably just from being stored away for so long. Before he could question why, Law steps forward and motions for him to follow, opening the front door back up.

Luffy doesn't keep pace as they walk through the village, taking his time to eye the houses they pass. They're all small, modest. He wonders if everyone moved somewhere less isolated. The sun is still out, taking its time to sink below the treeline, so they're safe out strolling for now. Well, he supposes there wasn't much danger anyway, since they had reached their destination. But something about this place made him uneasy. Maybe it was better that they sleep inside Law's house.

He takes another bite of the berry and then lets his arm hang down by his side, swinging as he walks. Law was a few paces ahead, winding through the village to a more open path. Eventually the houses thin out entirely, and what they're faced with is so shocking that the half-eaten berry tumbles from his hand to the ground. It lays there, forgotten, as Luffy takes in their surroundings.

It's a giant cemetery.

Law moves between the rows and comes to a stop in front of a smaller grave. "Lami's," he mumbles. "She was one of the first infected."

"No one knew what it was she came down with, and when we finally realized, it was all too late. She was too small and young, so her immune system lost the battle. Because it had taken everyone such a long time to figure it out, we continued to ingest the water until there was no turning back."

"The water . . ?" Luffy had moved a little closer to make out the words. Law doesn't reply right away, so he examines the gravemarker before his mind could race any more than it already was.

It was a block of wood roughly rounded out and set in the ground about a foot tall. It was thick enough to fit around Luffy's palm, but not much more. There were swirls and other simple designs carved into it. Some were shallow, some shaky, others more refined and sharp and deep -like they were done by different people.

After a while, Law stands. He looks over to their right, where the forest starts back up again. "Let me show you something."

They take off at a casual pace, but with intention in every step. Luffy is curious, but not nervous by any means. The sun still provides enough light to see by, even through the trees.

But that's another thing that was different. Whereas before, the forest had been so tightly knit together, things were more spacious here, like they didn't grow as well. The further in they go, the more the grass turns spotty beneath them. And still, like the area surrounding the village, there were no pokemon around at all.

There is noise, though. At first Luffy can't distinguish it, but as they come closer, he recognizes the movement of running water. This seems more sluggish, though. Like there was something blocking the current.

He gets his answer soon enough.

They stop a few feet away, before the ground slopes a bit and carves out a path for the river. Law can't believe how bad it had gotten. It was mucky, and almost white, slowly churning along down to the ocean it flowed out into further south. The sight makes his stomach sour. No wonder there weren't any pokemon around, no wonder nothing was growing much in the area. Not with this.

"The mines in Oreburgh are the reason the river is like this," he grounds out. "It's contaminated by the factories, by the coal processing waste." He sighs, stepping back a couple feet and closing his eyes, his fists already balled up. "Sixteen years ago, our water supply was poisoned because of their negligence. The river didn't look this bad back then, so we had no idea. We just kept drinking it, and getting more sick." He pauses, loosens his hands. "There are many poisonous things that make up coal, like sulfur, and lead. Sometimes they stick around, affect you more than other parts. I ended up with something that stuck around in my system. Not enough to kill me, but enough . ."

"That's why you have those spots, then?" Luffy comes forward a bit more. His voice was so quiet that the question could be written off as a statement instead, but Law gives him a little nod. He'd noticed them, wherever skin was visible. By his ears, on his hands. Up his arms, when his sleeves were rolled. He had been curious, but he had also just met Law, and if he wasn't willing to divulge him about Shanks, he wasn't going to take the chance on any personal information from the other.

But now he knew.

"I was able to flush enough of it out, but the spots never really went away. They faded a little, but-" He breaks off, chuckles. "Still noticeable, huh?"

They're silent for a bit, the only sound the churning of the river. Now everything made sense. Why nothing was growing around here, if the roots were sucking up the river water. Why there were no pokemon around, all warded off. Why Law's family hadn't lived in that house in such a while.

"I left Sinnoh after my mother died," Law tells him. "Not right after, but I didn't stay in the house long after that." He remembered packing a bag, stuffing in food and a blanket, and all the things kids thought they should take when leaving somewhere. He remembered substituting sweets in the place of warm socks, and packing a few books instead of a toothbrush. The only thing he managed to do right was to gather all the money in the house. It wasn't like anyone else was going to use it, after all.

He brought a canister, but for the better half of his journey, it remained empty.

He remembers skirting Oreburgh entirely, avoiding the city like the plague, and heading for Sandgem instead. There wasn't any natural means of gathering water besides the ocean, which he couldn't ingest, so he buys some at a store in the town. He wished he could buy a pokeball for Abra, too, but he had only turned ten not that long ago, and with the chaos his village was under, there had been no chance to procure him a trainer's license. He stuck Abra down his jacket most of the time he was around any people, to avoid unwanted attention.

When he made it to Canalave, he spent countless hours in the library, searching for a place to go. He'd finally found a location with no big corporations, no production factories. Where there was no mining, no pollution, and, at least on the surface, no corruption. With the funds he had, it was easy to procure a ticket and catch a ship ride out.

Sixteen years ago. Coming back had been . . well, he doesn't know. Something he'd been meaning to do, eventually.

"I think I came here for closure," Law says, stepping away from the river.

Luffy quirks a brow, walking with him back to the village. "Think?"

He shrugs. "Not entirely sure."

Later, when they're back in the house and have attempted to clear away dust from a few places to settle for the night, Luffy reaches out and pulls Law into a hug.

He doesn't know why, but he knows it feels right. He knows Law responds, gripping him back. He knows when he thanks him for sharing, and Law laughs, says something back about oversharing, that the response is comforting. He knows when they eventually separate, Law in turn thanks him, tells Luffy that he didn't think he could've done this alone.

For the moment, Veilstone could wait. He could afford this small detour.

* * *

_i'm reformatting tether, and as much as i like other platforms now over ffn, i thought i'd go ahead and post this here bc of the large userbase. this was written for the lawlu big bang 18-19. since ffn has limited html i can't do everything over here the way i would've liked, so it you want to see fic notes, my tumblr is cheswirl, and it's all under the tag #tether. there are four parts, and i have half if it reformatted, so at most i'll take a week or so to post it all. reviews are highly appreciated! also, i'm working on a pkmn team graphic for tumblr of some of the cast, so i'm really back into tether full-force now heh. hope you enjoy part 1!_


	2. journey to veilstone

Winding their way north through the forest once more, they know they've made it far enough out when their sights are graced again by Starly and Roselia roaming about. Law has them curve sharply to the mountainside, eager to have started the hike before sunset hit.

At one point they bypass a Girafarig, a rare sight out at this point, and Luffy stops to gawk at it, amazed to have seen such a common pokemon from Johto out here. Law insists they don't bother it, not a stranger to the illusions they tend to project, and Luffy goes along for once, so Law guesses the trainer must have some personal experience with them.

It's when they spot Wingull overhead that Law realizes they're close by the cliffs, and the sound of running water confirms it. When they clear the treeline, they're greeted with the sight of a small stream running down the side of the mountain, collecting into a pond below.

"We can stop for water here," Law says, already digging out a canister. There wouldn't be another chance until they were back in the city, and even then, he'd far prefer collecting it past the northern gates, closer to Coronet's entrance.

As they're filling up, a splashing gathers their attention, and Luffy stands up with an excited laugh, causing Law to pitch forward to catch the boy's container before it floated away.

It's a Floatzel moving around in the water further upstream that has Luffy completely enamored. As Law caps their containers, Luffy sputters something about it looking like his own pokemon and brings out a pokeball.

A Driftzel appears as Law is standing, and Luffy quickly points over to the Floatzel, the two gazing at it all starry-eyed. While they fawn at the pokemon's evolved state, Law voices an old thought.

"For someone who's not from here, you seem to have a lot of Sinnoh pokemon," Law notes. Luffy turns to him, glances at Driftzel, and then grins.

"All of them are gifts from Shanks!" he tells him. "Aipom was first, then Buizel, and Munchlax a few years back." He looks back over at the wild Floatzel, now hopping out of the water. "Hey hey, Traffy, Driftzel evolves into Floatzel, right? Do you think it'll happen soon? I sure hope so. Don't you?" He looks down to the water-type, who nods in agreement, and Law turns to hide a smile at the obvious enthusiasm.

"Perhaps. It looks like it, at least."

They keep to the lower crest, hiking up and only just pulling away from the sides of the trail. Trees dot the back end, but they're much more worse-for-wear than those at the bottom of the mountain. Still, the streams flowing down from the top made vegetation possible.

At one point they pass a drowsy Meditite that Law has to physically restrain Luffy from going after. The selling point was informing the trainer that Meditite were common around and inside the mountain, so they would surely encounter more.

Around sunset Law takes enough of a pause from their trek to grab the leftover pecha berries from his bag for them to snack on. They don't stop for the night until the call of Noctowl becomes regular and the moonlight isn't enough to see by.

Law wakes at one point in the night to see Umbreon had tucked herself into his sleeping bag. He sits up for a minute and takes a sip of water before trying to sleep again.

The next time he wakes up it's to Luffy shaking his shoulder. The boy is far too close for comfort, but upon seeing the raw concern in his eyes, Law elects to ignore it. Instead he blinks, hard, and then breathes out a sigh.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"You were shaking again," Luffy informs him. Law internally winces. _Again_. Great. "Umbreon couldn't calm you down this time."

A small noise accompanies the comment, and Law turns to see his pokemon gazing at him with the same concern in Luffy's gaze. He lets a hand wander up to pat her head, a small reassurance.

A glance at the sky reveals dawn is still a few hours away. Too early to get up for the day, then. He turns to Luffy. "I'm fine now. Let's get back to sleep."

Luffy doesn't move for a few moments, the huffs out a sigh. "If you're really okay," he mumbles, crawling back to his own resting place.

Law closes his eyes, but his thoughts take him before sleep does. So being back was _really_ affecting him. With any luck it would wear off the further they got, but that was an off chance. Maybe he could convince Alakazam to hypnotize him. If he phrased it to seem like it was for his benefit, it could work. He'd never known people to dream when under hypnosis, so it was worth a shot.

At some point he does fall asleep, because Umbreon is nudging him awake with her nose. He doesn't feel very rested, but the sun was somewhat out, so it was time to go.

Luffy doesn't mention last night, for which Law is grateful. The hike that day is long and uneventful, at least until the heat of midday kicks in. That's when they can make out the cityscape of Oreburgh, and Law lets his thoughts spiral as the plumes of smog become visible.

"We don't have to go back into Oreburgh."

Law's jerked back to reality with the words. Luffy's eyeing him, and Law realizes he remembers the other night well, and just is kind enough to not mention it.

He considers the pros and cons, but as he'd been thinking the same thing, ultimately comes to that conclusion. Law bobs his head, pointing a little to the right of their current path.

"We're crossing through Coronet anyways, so skirting around the city will save time." They'd eventually be on a downtrack, but wouldn't have to climb up the dip the city sat in as well. Plus, there were a few things he wanted to gather before venturing into the mountain, and they were already on the correct path for them.

They keep to the edge of the cliffs until they've passed city limits and the sun is high in the sky. With guide from the map, the descent to the grasslands just outside the gate is easy.

Law lets Luffy roam a little bit as he hunts for berry bushels, picking several oran, cheri, and bluk berries as he finds them. As if sensing the food, Luffy makes his way back. Law lets him have a portion of the bluk berries. At Luffy's question, Law tells him the chirping around them were from wild Kricketot, the Pokemon they'd encountered outside Jubilife. They slowly leave behind the grassy plain and approach the looming main structure of Mount Coronet. Law points out the cavern entrance and then guides them to an area adjacent to it.

As Law pulls out the rest of the bluk berries, he makes it a point to explain how the mountain worked. How there were hollowed-out sections that people travelled through to cross the region. How this lower portion had large areas of water they'd have to traverse. How dark it would be, without any sort of artificial light as a guide due to the habitat the mountain provided for pokemon. For the majority, they'd have to stick close together and make do with dim visibility.

After cleansing their hands of the staining berry juice, Law and Luffy enter the mountain. The sun is still high up, but after only a couple minutes it no longer matters -everything is dark.

Maybe it's because the sound of their footsteps is unsettling, or perhaps just to avoid the fact they were aimlessly following some stripped path at the moment, but Luffy speaks up, asking Law to tell him about the mountain.

That he could do.

"Mount Coronet is the origin point of Sinnoh." It's strange, how his voice echoes, bouncing off the rock surrounding them. "The Original One, a pokemon called Arceus, created the mountain from a place known as Spear Pillar. It's supposed to be located above the mountain's summit. From Mount Coronet came the two halves of Sinnoh. It also is considered the birthing point of Sinnoh's legends, beings that control time and space. After them, Arceus created 'spirit' in the form of three pokemon. We call them the lake trio, because they supposedly live at the bottom of the three lakes in the corners of the region."

A warm weight wraps around his wrist, and Law's breath catches before he can remind himself it was just Luffy, that there was someone with him. He tugs, and Law's moved to the side, just managing to avoid tripping over his feet.

"What was that for?" he questions, steadying himself, and the both stop walking just as Law's arm brushes against something. He reaches back and feels along the rock as Luffy replies.

"There was a slab in the way. You would've run into it," he murmurs. And he's right. Law lets his hand fall back, but something seems odd as they continue moving. If it was so dark that Law couldn't see it, then how did-

"So the mountain is special because legends were born here?" Luffy's voice is loud in the quiet, jarring Law from his thoughts.

"I guess that's the 'sacred' part of it," Law tells him. "After creating spirit, Arceus is said to have fallen into slumber on Spear Pillar."

"Hmmmmm. . ." Luffy's silent for a long moment. "Does it actually exist? Spear Pillar?"

Law shrugs. "Dunno. I've never heard of anyone climbing to the summit to find out. Coronet is supposed to break through the clouds."

"Wow! That tall, huh. ."

They continue wandering for some time. Law's eyes have adjusted enough to navigate the set path, but it's still tricky here and there. It's also impossible to gauge the distance they've covered, or how close the water is. A far-off screeching catches his attention, and Luffy groans.

"There are Zubat _here_ too?" he complains. A sound of flapping wings carries across the rock, and Luffy sighs, his posture curving. "Guess they're everywhere," he mutters.

Law snuffs out a snicker and lets the grin on his face speak for him. As they move forward, Luffy cheers up. He becomes especially interested in the Sinnoh native-species they encounter, and Law has no issue with explaining them.

At one point a bell chime can be heard in the distance. As they move forward, it grows closer, until the ringing is above them.

Luffy makes them stop to peer up at a small form perched on one of the rock formations. As he eyes it, the pokemon grows curious as well, passing a bit closer to the edge. Law hums as he recognizes it and Luffy turns to him for an explanation.

"Chingling. They're nocturnal, but that doesn't mean much in caves." They look up as the Chingling makes a small noise, the bell in its mouth jingling.

Luffy quickly makes friends with it, calling up a greeting and waving his arms around. In response, the Chingling bounces around and makes more noise, and the bell rattles.

Eventually, the sound of running water becomes audible. The air becomes cooler, and Luffy tugs with the end of his scarf, pulling it tighter around his neck. By the time they reach the channel, the churning ripples are visible, some sort of light from far above faintly casting their current location in a very dim glow.

Law sets his pack down and explains the plan on crossing. Since they both had water-type pokemon, it made everything easier. They'd swim counter-current and head towards the east exit. Law shrugs off his coat as Luffy removes his scarf. Going all the way out with the river wouldn't bode well, since it swept into a wide pool that carried all the way through the marshes and into the sea. At some point they'd encounter a split-path to higher ground and go the rest of the way on foot.

Law's not sure how much of that Luffy let pass over his head, but he does pull out Driftzel's pokeball after stuffing his jacket into his bag, so he at least got the beginning.

He calls out Brionne as he's swinging his pack over his shoulder, and stores her pokeball in a free slot. The river was deep, that he could easily tell. The current was also going fast enough to make him not even consider swimming without assistance. He peers in the direction it ran, but the light wasn't strong enough to see far. The danger still stood, though -get swept away and who knew where you'd end up.

"Oh! What pokemon is that?" Luffy comes closer to peer at the water-type, and Law can tell the gleam is back in his dark eyes.

"Brionne. She's from Alola."

"Aloha? Never heard of that." He bends down and she bops his nose with her own, making him snort.

Law smiles, bobbing his head. "Alola. It's small, and very, very far away. It also doesn't have a real Pokemon League, so it's not a go-to destination."

Luffy hums. "Is it different from Sinnoh?"

"Yeah." Law's smile turns a bit mellow. "About as different as you can get."

The water was about as cold as Law expected, and he was glad this part of their journey would be behind them soon. The cave was more open on one side, the other being a firm wall that almost seemed to lean toward them. Add that to the low visibility and Law was more than a little wary. Their path snaked enough to let them know it definitely wasn't mad-made, and that was only more foreboding.

Law deigns to distract himself and tips his head in Luffy's direction. His voice carries a bit, but is loud enough to be heard over the churning water. "Tell me about Sabo. You said he was a league trainer, right?"

"Oh." Luffy laughs a little. "No, Ace was the competitive trainer. He's my other brother. I think Sabo might have had an interest in taking on the league, but . . . not anymore."

"Why's that?"

Luffy's pause is a little long, bit he does eventually answer. "Ace is dead. He died two years ago." His voice is quiet enough that Law has to strain to hear above the noise of the river. "Sabo. . he didn't stick around for long after it all happened. He actually left right when I needed him most." The last part is mumbled. "I'm not even sure if he's alive anymore."

Law feels his heart leap to his chest; Luffy continues.

"That's why I'm looking for him, I guess." Luffy does him best shrug, with his arms still wrapped around Driftzel, and his form hunched over. "I can't lose both of my brothers. And . . . I have to tell Sabo it wasn't his fault. I think he blames himself for it. They were traveling together, but when they came home, Sabo got injured and was hospitalized. He told Ace to continue on while he was in recovery, and then Ace died in an accident." Luffy's small sniffles are audible by now. "Sabo probably thinks if he'd been there, it wouldn't have happened. But he can't know that for sure, right. So. So someone has to convince him to snap out of it. That's why I've been searching for him."

A loud slap of the water echoes to them from up ahead, startling Luffy. Law, having expected this at some point, muffles a snicker and moves closer. With any luck, this would be a good distraction, too.

"Stay calm, I know what it is. We're not in any danger."

"It's a pokemon?" Luffy asks, perking back up.

"Mhm." Law nods. "Whiscash. They have feelers they'll use to detect and avoid us, so there's no danger of a collision, no matter how dark it is." He thinks for a moment, then smiles, turning to look at Luffy. "They might get curious, though. Swim close enough to touch."

The waves are rippling enough to alert him it was a small pod passing by, and he directs Brionne a little closer to the churning. Slowly, he reaches his hand out to rest just below the surface, and his palm meets with the smooth skin of the passing Whiscash. "Dip your hand into the water -gently," he tells Luffy.

Luffy hums, and a small splash alerts Law he'd done the same. A couple giddy noises of excitement follow, and they settle into a small silence, letting the pod pass by and continue down the stream.

Time passes. Luffy's mood seems to have brightened, to Law's relief. He makes a mental note to not ask any more invasive questions. They continue floating down the stream.

Eventually they come upon a false shore, feet scraping bedrock the closer they get to the more open part of the riverside. They slide off their pokemon and make their way out of the channel, crawling up and onto the dry rock and moving just a little inland, enough to where the noise of the water isn't so prevalent.

"Let's take a break," Law pants, slinging one of his wet shirts off his body before falling to the ground, sprawled out on his back.

Luffy agrees and does the same, exchanging a shirt for his warm raincoat and leaning back against a boulder. After a moment of shivering, he pulls his scarf around his neck as well.

Law lies there until he's regained his breath, then follows Luffy's example and drags out his coat from his bag. He thanks Brionne, only looking a little worn down from the unfamiliar temperature, and then makes a decision, pulling food out from his pack.

"We can stay here for a bit, let our clothes dry." Law sets down the packaged food and then pulls off his shoes and socks, rocking violently for a moment at the sudden chill and then pulling on a fresh and -if not exactly warm- dry pair.

Luffy grabs for a bag and beckons Driftzel closer, opting to share. Law brings out Umbreon, and the rings on her fur supply a little more light. Law is grabbing a few oran berries for their pokemon when the familiar ringing of Chingling reaches his ears.

As Law is dividing up the berries, two of the bell pokemon come into view, peering at their group. Luffy smiles and offers them each a slice of oran berry. They don't end up taking it, but they don't leave either, hanging curiously at the edge.

At one point exhaustion hits Law in a wave, and he shrugs off his coat to instead lay on it, quietly informing Luffy he was taking a nap. At some point Umbreon curls up beside him, her added warmth much appreciated.

When he wakes, an insurmountable amount of time having passed, Luffy is dozing, and the Chingling have come a bit closer. Since they weren't generally known for being troublesome pokemon, Law thinks nothing of it. As long as their belongings stayed secure, they were good.

He puts Brionne back into her pokeball and snacks a little more on their supplies. Luffy wakes as he's putting on his shirt, dry now. They exchange a couple words and opt to get moving again, though they take their time in packing up.

They bid the Chingling goodbye and return their pokemon, continuing ahead on foot. Law catches on pretty quick to Luffy's odd quietness, but filling it with more conversation seemed cheap. He steps closer instead and grabs Luffy's wrist. "We can navigate the dark better this way," Law offers at Luffy's question. The trainer seems to relax, the quiet no longer stiff, so Law takes it as a win.

At one point Luffy tugs him closer, the path they're traveling twisting oddly. Another time he's pulled a different direction to avoid a roadblock, late in noticing it due to the sound of a Nosepass nearby. Occasionally they'd step into puddles, larger at first and then steadily growing smaller, and Law figures they're now too high up to run into any more of the channels. He can't even hear the water anymore, so it was safe to assume their cave swimming was over.

"What's the next city like?" Luffy asks, as Law loosens his hold on him, Luffy seeming to lead him around more than the opposite. "Actually, what happens after we leave the mountain?"

"Hearthome is close by. It won't take us long to reach it once we get out." He wondered what time of day it would be. It'd become increasingly clear that they had been inside of Coronet overnight, so hopefully it would be light outside when they left. "Hearthome is Sinnoh's biggest city, definitely the hub of the eastern side. Since it's land-locked, it's mostly an attraction area. There's an airport there because it's so isolated from the ports, but if you do make it there, there are all sorts of things to keep you around."

When they can make out faint light ahead, Law breathes a sigh of relief, telling his aching legs to hang in there a bit longer. It has the opposite effect on Luffy, who jogs ahead with a shout, leaving Law stumbling behind.

"Traffy! I hear water!" Luffy calls back.

"It's from the exit," he replies, hoping his voice echoed back up to the trainer. The light is more than enough to see by now, and he catches up with Luffy just in time to exit.

They walk out and immediately onto a short outcropping of rock that juts out and ends abruptly, the path saved from ending into a drop into the raging currents below via a long stone bridge that stretches as far as they could see. The thin fog covering the area is probably more mist than anything, supported by the roaring of a waterfall to their far left, further up the slope. Law can't tell whether it's morning or afternoon.

When they turn to face their exit, they see it was boarded on either side, the shape now clearly man-made.

"What's this?" Luffy questions.

"It was probably installed to show this is the correct path. Since this is such a standard crossing, it's a way to let travelers know they've reached the exit to Hearthome." He thinks that was how it was explained to him. It had . . well. It had been a long time.

He doesn't remember the landscape being so muted, the colors faded, the visibility low. It's probably due to the fog. All the rushing water would cause that. From their position, though, even seeing that is impossible. They only have the sound of the tumbling waters below to acknowledge.

Law pulls out the map from his pack and settles against the side of the mountain, letting the rock dig into his back. They'd at least spent a day crossing the mountain, and the few hours of sleep are starting to catch up to him. A quick scan of the map and he's convinced they'll reach the city before the day is over.

"Luffy-ya," he calls, gesturing the trainer over. "Let's get to Hearthome and then get a room at the PC. We can head back out in the morning."

"Oh, yeah, okay." Luffy bobs his head. "We can heal up our pokemon too."

The bridge is cracked stone and covered in fallen leaves from across the ravine. It's certainly glossy from the mist, and they only become less wary as they see the railings on the side.

They're careful as they step onto it, wary of the mist keeping them from seeing too far ahead. Luffy keeps to the middle, gaze moving to either side occasionally, but in vain, as there was nothing to be seen. Law opts for the railings, but after finding them slick as well, moves more into the center.

After walking for a minute, a faint call of a pokemon gathers their attention. Luffy tips his head back to him, but Law shakes his head, not able to distinguish the sound. Eventually, as they continue slowly moving forward, their question is answered.

A Ralts stood a little ways from them on the bridge. It calls out again, voice carrying something that echoes oddly, that makes Law wary. Then it whips its head to face them, and as Luffy takes a step forward, teleports away.

The bridge ends on a platform, stone giving way to hard rock, and the mist has thinned enough that they can see it's an island that the water runs around, providing a perfect spot to connect the two bridges to cross the ravine. The fog has cleared quite a bit at this point, and as Luffy pulls on his sleeve and gestures to the left, Law turns and is able to make out the waterfall, audibly roaring from the distance.

Luffy gets a bit closer to the edge, admiring the sight, and Law moves forward to the other end of the island. The drawbridge that sets there is long, and it stretches into the treeline, so far that he can't make out where it ends. The wood it's made up of is weathered from age, a testament to how long it had been around. The sides were covered in a mesh wiring, thick ropes lying on top as handholds. It doesn't make him any less nervous.

In contrast to Law, Luffy bounds forward with a new spring in his step, takes one look at the bridge, shouts "cool!" into the air, and hops on it, bounding ahead. "Wait," Law calls out. "Don't go too far, the fog-!"

His fears are unfounded, but he still grips the ropes tight as he walks the bridge, pausing every so often as it tips down. He can hear Luffy's voice ahead, telling him to hurry, and promptly ignores it. He's suspended over a rushing river by very old wood. Any sane person would be cautious.

What he assumed was a forest is actually a line of trees nestled on the edge of the cliffs. They end fairly quickly, and still the bridge slopes up, until Law's out of the treeline entirely, and all the fog and bleak colors and cold atmosphere is immediately replaced with something warm and sunny.

The bridge slopes down suddenly into an almost carved set of steps in the side of the landscape. Luffy looks back and smiles at him, looking almost two seconds from bolting, and so Law sighs and gestures for him to go ahead.

Down below is a wide field of berry plants that immediately capture Law's attention. Luffy skips around, chasing at the Bidoof wandering about, and Law moves to a few bushels gathered near the steps. He crouches down and scans the roots, the leaves, the ground around them, but there's no sort of tag. He frowns and moves on to the next set, but again, no tags.

That seemed odd. They looked so well-maintained, and having so many in one place, it certainly looked like a berry farm. But, after looking for a bit and finding no signs of ownership, he calls Luffy over to help him gather the berries. They crouch and pull off razz berries carefully, though Law notices as Luffy grows more careless in plucking them so that the juice splatters, and he has no choice but to eat it. They do the same with nanab, and this time Law gathers the ripest bunch he could find and tosses it to Luffy, letting the boy devour them as they search for more.

Luffy badgers his way into plucking fruit from the qualot trees on the edge of the field, scampering off at Law's confirmation to grab a couple, and Law folds them in cloth and places everything into his pack.

"Hey, why are you always gathering berries?" Luffy asks, as Law is slotting in the wrapped nanab where they won't crush the others. He pauses for a moment, not expecting the question, but recovers enough to finish and zip up his bag.

"Berries have healing properties," he admits. "I make medicines from them."

"Oh! Like, for pokemon?"

"For any sort of injury. I've had to use them on myself some. They're handy to have around, to grind into powders and pastes, to mash into syrups." He shrugs. "I was . . in a position once, where going to PCs wasn't possible. This was the solution I came up with. Plus, it's more convenient when you're out in the middle of nowhere and your team is in bad condition."

"Huh, I guess that's true." He hands the qualot to Law and leans over to look inside the bag, eyeing all the different berries there. "That's neat! So you're your own doctor, right?"

"Basically." Law takes the praise lightly, offering him a small smile, and they continue moving through the field. He explains the Combee to a curious Luffy, a plant pollinator that he's not surprised to see around here. It probably explained why there were so many plants in such good condition.

"They look nice," Luffy admits. "Much friendlier than Beedrill."

"Yeah," Law mutters, a small shiver running up his back. Luffy's turned to a couple of the bug types, so he doesn't pick up on it, much to Law's relief.

Once they reach the edge of the field, they spot a small bout of smoke coming from a narrow path. In fear of a fire, they move closer, and Law stops as they make out a small cottage not too far away, the plume of smoke coming from the chimney.

"Oh no," Law moans. "I knew that field had to belong to someone. There were no tags, but that didn't mean-"

"Then let's go say hi," Luffy interrupts. "If they say we can't have the berries, we'll just give them back, no harm done."

" . . Yeah, you're right."

As they move further into the small clearing, they're noticed first by a Roserade, and then by the girl it belonged to, looking up from beside a harvested plant, a woven basket of rawst berries nestled inside in her arms. She stands, her blonde hair pushed back by a bandana, and waves at them.

"Hi! Are you travelers? I'm Moda!"

Luffy waves back, and Law offers her a nod. Mods lives in the cottage with her family, apparently, and her parents maintained the berry field. Law apologizes for picking some of their crop, but Moda quickly waves him off, saying how they were all planted for travelers to harvest in the first place. Law's a little stunned, but Luffy just laughs, says something about not having to give up their berries. Moda laughs with him, assuring them there was no cost.

She digs down into her skirt pockets and pulls out a berry, handing one each to them. Luffy acquires a nomel, and Law a lum berry.

"This looks good. Can I eat this?" Luffy asks, and Law swipes it from him before he can go through with it. Luffy frowns, but Moda laughs, shaking her head.

"You shouldn't, they're very sour."

"Oh," Luffy mutters, and Law slides off his pack to store the berries.

Moda's Roserade wanders back up, carrying the earlier wicker basket, and holds it out to Luffy, offering one of the rawst berries. Moda reaches down to snag one herself, saying how she just picked these not too long ago, and takes a big bite, humming at the sweetness. Luffy doesn't take long to follow suit, and the two crouch down and have one more before Law mentions about getting to the city.

They bid Moda thanks and goodbye, and they they're out of the field. Luffy's munching on a couple more of the rawst, and Law promises they would get a real meal once they secured a room in the city.

They reach the city's gate before too long, and stop as Luffy gapes up at it, murmuring about never seeing anything like it. It's a sprawling archway that looms far above them, cut marble shining in the sunlight. A small passway sets just beyond it, a little building that separated the route from the city. Law tells him how most cities had one if there wasn't any sort of natural border, like in Oreburgh. He leads Luffy through and they enter into a small building, where an attendant greets them from the corner, wishing them well in the city. Law sees the time is mid-afternoon via a clock on the wall, and then Luffy's grabbing his wrist and tugging him through the door.

The outskirts of Hearthome consist of a smoothed stone pathway, grass lining it on either side. It's very quaint, a nice opening before the bustling of the city takes over.

Soon, the stone becomes cobbled brick, slightly uneven as it sloped. They pass several lampposts as they walk, not yet lit in the wake of natural light, and a bit off from the path, a few water fountains can be seen, the water sparkling as it flows down into the pool. There are a collection of bricked-off plants set to the sides of the path, and the occasional red bench offers reprieve from the stroll. They can already see people occupying them, as they make their way further in.

"This is the biggest city in eastern Sinnoh," Law tells Luffy. "So . . please don't run off."

Luffy waves him off. "Ah, this is nothing compared to Saffron back in Kanto! But okay, okay, I'll stay close."

Law can't really remember a lot about Hearthome, and so they navigate their way through purely on intuition. When that doesn't hold up to fruition, law finally asks a passerby for directions, and the man personally leads them to the PC.

"I take it back," Luffy says, still waving at the man's back as they enter the center. "This is better than Saffron. The people are so _nice_ here."

The Nurse Joy at the counter is very accomodating, and soon enough they have a key to their own room in the building. It's nice enough, with two beds on opposite walls and a window between them. Law sets his pack down against the nightstand and glances out the window, admiring the view for a moment.

Luffy ends up dragging Law back out to the city before too long, talking up a cafe they had passed on the way there. Law was surprised he actually remembered the way to it, but Luffy assures him when food was on the line, he could never forget.

When they're set down at a small table just inside, Law can only smile as the menu offers little more than pastries and sweets. Luffy isn't too bothered by it, though, shrugging it off and mentioning how they could eat the complimentary meals at the PC as well. He orders a handful of sweets and then a handful more for Law and after waiting a bit, their small table is filled with a myriad of things to pick through.

It takes a little longer, but Law's own order comes out as space is cleared, and he hums in delight as the basket of pale blue poffins is set before him. Luffy pauses in his attempt to scarf down a cake slice and glances over at it as Law picks one up and tears it apart, steam wafting out from the inside.

"Poffins," Law mentions, catching Luffy's eye. He offers him a half and Luffy sets his fork aside to grasp at it. "They're something of a regional delicacy, made from any sort of berry you can think of." Luffy sniffs at it for a second before popping the whole thing into his mouth, and Law takes a small bite, savoring the taste.

"Oh! It's good!" Luffy says before too long, and Law laughs, setting the basket between them.

"Sinnoh has pokemon contests in contrast to gym battles," Law tells him, leaning back in his seat. Another poffin is in his hand, and he nibbles on it as he continues. "Which are basically competitions that you win based off your pokemon's condition, and how well they can show off their moveset. Hearthome is famous for its super contest hall. It's why poffin making is so big here, because the coordinators feed them to their pokemon for the benefits they provide in contests."

"You sure know a lot about it."

He shrugs. "From Lami, mainly. She _adored_ contests, and she was always talking about visiting the hall here one day."

They're just leaving the cafe when Luffy speaks up, surprising Law. "Let's visit it. The contest hall."

Law falters a step, brows raising. "It's closed by now."

"Tomorrow, then!"

"But- We really should be going-"

Luffy frowns and halts them, pointing out to the city, to all the buildings around them. "Look, this place looks amazing. I'm sure I could find somewhere worth looking at, too. If we're here, we should take the time to experience everything!" He turns to Law. "Veilstone and Shanks can wait a little longer, okay? There's nothing wrong with enjoying the adventure! We don't have to rush through all of it."

And Law thinks on it, as they make their way back to the PC, because really, what else was left for him to do? Why _was_ he trying to rush through it? It wasn't because he wanted to leave the region, though that thought did cross his mind.

"Alright," he eventually says, because he suddenly doesn't want to question what he would do _next_, do after their trip was over. "We can stay a day."

Their walk back consists of lightly talking through the next day. Luffy points out various buildings that seemed interesting, and Law offers the occasional suggestion as well. Once they're back in the PC, they grab a brochure on the city and stand in the lobby for a minute, flipping through it. Law doesn't have a pen on him to mark anything, so they go back to their room, first dropping off their pokemon at the counter for Nurse Joy.

Law passes Luffy his black marker and wanders off to shower, enjoying the feel of hot water on his skin after so long without it. When he comes back in the room, Luffy is already passed out, and the brochure is scribbled all over in thick black letters that Law can't quite make out. Luckily, Luffy circled things as well, which made it slightly easier to follow.

He gives up after a little bit and climbs into his own bed, flipping off the lamp. A bubble of anticipation flows through him at the thought of visiting a place Lami had _always_ talked about, but it settles eventually, and he ends up in a restful sleep.

* * *

When they wake it's late morning, the bustle of activity outside their window alerting them to it prior to the clock set on the nightstand. They dawdle a bit in getting ready, enjoying the slow pace. The complimentary breakfast the center provided was really good, and their teams were fully healed, and their clothes were clean. Luffy ends up leaving his yellow raincoat thrown over a desk chair in their room, and it takes Law a moment to adjust, unused to seeing him without it.

They walk a few steps outside and though it looked sunny from inside, the air is crisp and the wind chilly, and Luffy runs back inside and thrusts on his coat, shivering. Law chooses not to comment, waiting outside until Luffy comes back, a frown on his face as he glares at the sky for tricking him.

The first couple hours they just spend wandering around, looking at the city's distinct architecture. From the red roofs and sprawling balconies of apartment buildings, to the quaint shops with flower boxes in the windows and chalkboards by the open doors, to the water fountains and benches they pass in more sparse sections -it's all stuff Law doesn't quite remember, and Luffy has never been exposed to before.

They get crepes from a food stall they had seen the other day, Luffy piling on chocolate and razz berries and whipped cream and persim filling, and Law getting one with cheri creame and sliced pecha, and eat them as they walk to the cathedral to admire the tall stained-glass windows. They pass by poffin vendors and get a bag of assorted flavors that they pass back and forth, making faces as they react to the different tastes.

The bench they sit down on to snack on the poffins happens to be across from the city's pokemon gym, and after conversing a bit about the ghost-type matching it housed, the topic turned to Ace.

"Would he have won, here?" Law asks, and Luffy hesitates before replying.

"Dunno." He shrugs. "Ace only trained fire types. He did have a half dark, his Houndoom Skull, so that might have helped."

Law lets the air settle for a moment before gently prying for more, and Luffy munches on a pink poffin, humming in thought.

"He had a Darmanitan, Deuce, and their signature move was his fire punch attack. When he was on the Kanto circuit, the media dubbed it 'Fire Fist'." He laughs a little, his smiling growing into something more fond. "He had a Talonflame named Isuka that was _so fast_, and a Torracat that he got from gramps, Kotatsu. His second pokemon was a Vulpix, Banshee, and his starter was his Charizard, Striker." He reaches into the bag, but they're all out, so he snags it and stands, tossing it into the trash nearby. "Striker was a total powerhouse! I don't think I've ever seen those two lose a battle together."

They wander away from the gym, and Luffy continues on about Ace's starter, the words falling from his lips in an excited ramble that Law can't ignore.

"Sounds amazing," he ends up saying, once Luffy pauses for air.

"Yeah!" He grins. "I'd love to see him again. He . ." He pauses, and the grin buckles, becoming something more solemn. "He's actually with Sabo now. He took Striker in before he left."

Luffy stops and Law berates himself, knowing the topic would've turned sour, but then he realizes it's because they're at the contest hall, and then Luffy is tugging him inside before he can think more on the issue.

The inside is spacious, and tidy, and houses different things that Law didn't exactly expect to see. There's a section of portraits of past winners with their pokemon, and a row of counters for registration, and a bunch of people milling about dressed in both casual and formal attire. People sat across from each other in low tables and conversed, but what caught their attention the most was the noise and flashes coming from an open entryway to the back. Luffy moves forward, and Law follows him, and one of the receptionists leans over and tells them that a contest was wrapping up inside, and that they could go in and watch if they wanted.

So they move through the doors and climb the stairs and little and then huddle near the back, on their feet, turning their attention to the stage down below. A battle was taking place, only a couple minutes left on the clock, and Law's hair goes flying as a razor wind attack by a Drifblim shoots through the crowd.

The opposing Leafeon jumps from the stage to dodge it, firing an energy ball in turn that slams into the Drifblim, leaving it reeling, and its trainer's points dropping from the scoreboard. Beside him, Luffy is enthralled by the high-pace battle, moving in place this way and that at all the attacks, and making noise at every shock or change. The crowd echoes him, and the clock ticks down to under a minute, and the conclusion is riddled in anticipation as a last-minute attack covers the scores. When it clears, the announcer calls out the winner, just barely squeaking ahead by a couple points, and the crowd jumps to their feet, roaring.

As they exit, Luffy turns to Law and asks if Lami would have liked the battle. It doesn't take Law long to say yes.

"And you? Did you like it?"

This time it takes Law a moment, but he nods. "Yeah. I did."

By the time they finally leave the building after taking their time to fully explore it, the sun is setting, dyeing the city in hues of pinks and reds and soft oranges. They stop by a vendor selling hot food for dinner, and Law hands Luffy his box with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, for all this."

Luffy snickers. "I should be thanking you. You're the one who took us this far."

As they're moving back to the pokemon center, Luffy's attention is snagged by glowing items from a stall. The sign advertises lunar feathers, and Luffy questions Law about this, moving off their path to get closer.

"A lunar wing is supposed to cure nightmares," he tells Luffy. "There's an old story, that the darkness pokemon Darkrai once cast an entire family into nightmarish slumber, and the lunar pokemon Cresselia was the only one who could wake them, using her power to dispel the bad dreams. The lunar feathers supposedly come from Cresselia."

They walk up to the stand and Luffy spends a long moment staring at the faintly glowing feathers. They look soft, and the dual green-and-yellow tone added to their distinction. The top was decorated with little colored charms, and it all hung from a thin band. Law stands back to let Luffy admire them, knowing they were a sight, and eventually Luffy digs some change out of his pockets and pays for one.

When Law asks him about it on their way, Luffy smiles conspiratorially.

"Maybe I'm hoping for good dreams and good luck."

* * *

Law feels sleep pulling at his eyelids and finally has the mind to peel off the hard shell of the chesto berry in his hands. "Stop," he says, because he can't see in the dark but he knows Luffy is somewhere close by, and the sound of footsteps shuffles to a halt not too far away in confirmation. He takes a big bite of the berry and munches on it for a moment. "How asleep are you?" he asks, and Luffy comes close until he's right before Law, eyeing the fruit until Law breaks it in half and places one side in Luffy's hand just as the boy opens his mouth to yawn. The pit falls to the forest floor, but he's not overly concerned. Some pokemon would come across it and find it some use.

Several more of the berries were in his pockets, picked from a plant they'd passed as the sun was low in the sky, only an outline of red visible, and when Law realized they weren't going to stop for the night. He knows the peel is both edible and useful, but he lets it too fall to the ground, too tired to care and too uncaring to keep up with it. He takes another bite of the berry. Slowly, he can feel the sleep draining from his system.

He had also gathered some leppa berries, selecting the smallest ones he could find, and the supply was nestled into the side of his pack, a good thing to have that he'd been low on for a long time. Just thinking about how he had some now perks him up enough to keep moving, the natural sleep cure from the chesto doing wonders for his physical body, but not much so for his motivation.

Luffy pops his whole half of the berry into his mouth and recovers enough to surge ahead. It doesn't matter -he can't get far before bumping into something. Law sighs as the groan of pain echoes back to him, careful of his step as he feels roots underfoot. That, too, proves a waste of time -he trips anyway.

"Luffy-ya, let's stop for the night," he says for the third time, picking his way back to his feet.

"No, no, we can reach it. I can feel it. We can get there soon," Luffy answers, the same stubborn persistence to push forward each time Law tries to stop shining through.

Law grumbles and finishes off his berry.

The clouds are still out, blocking any sort of light, and Law becomes increasingly frustrated with his pace. As Luffy gets his energy back, he suddenly stops bumping into trees as often, and Law grows jealous of his sixth sense as he's smacked in the face with a branch he's wandered straight into.

For a moment, the clouds part just enough to let some moonlight shine through, and instead of pinpointing his traveling partner's location, Law hastily digs out the map before the light can disappear, looking at it and trying to gauge their location. It's in vain, as it still shows several bridges connecting a couple islands, and they had yet to spot a single bridge.

The light is gone too soon, and Law does his best to fold the map and hastily stuff it in a pocket. "Luffy-ya!" he calls, which was a mistake, because the Zubat are still out in droves, and their calls fill the air with high-pitched screeching and the inane flapping of wings. He sighs in frustration and moves forward on his own. Not for the first time, he mistakes a Ralts for Luffy, moving closer with hurried footsteps only for the pokemon to flicker out of existence.

Luffy wanders back, footsteps letting Law know of his approach before he's grasping at Law's arm. "Here, I'm here," he says.

"Let's stop," Law tells him, irritation seeping into his voice.

"What? No, no! We're close, I know we are," Luffy says, except his voice is a lot louder, and the Zubat take to the skies again, drowning out anything else he has to say.

Eventually, they make it to the first bridge, which is little more than tightly wrapped logs only a few feet above the water that's slowly churning downstream. They step forward to get on, but then a Ralts appears at the edge of the wood, shaking its head at them. It's gone before either of them can make sense of it, but Law can't just disregard the notions of a native pokemon, so he takes out Umbreon's pokeball because the sky is still dark and he can't wait for the moon to appear, and uses the lights on her fur to make out the map.

One of the first two bridges they were bound to hit was a cut-off. He says this aloud, and Luffy hums in reply, further away. Law looks up and makes him out standing in front of a pole.

"It's a fishing sign," Luffy says, and that cements the idea: they were at the wrong bridge.

Law returns Umbreon and stands again, pocketing the map. The next bridge would be a straight path from the one they were bound to cross, so hopefully he wouldn't need it again so soon. He takes out another chesto berry and eats one half, but Luffy's too far ahead, so he offers him the other half to keep him close.

They walk together on the pebbled shore of the river, able to make out the water this close to it, and use the path to get to the second bridge, built much like the first. This time, they climb onto it without their path being obstructed. It's an easy cross, not too long, and the logs slope on the land just enough so that it's not soggy when they step off, high enough from the shore.

A few steps in and a Duskull pops up out of nowhere, contorting its face into silly expressions that seem much more horrific in the dark and running only on the energy provided from chesto berries. They both yell and then Luffy's running and Law's sprinting after him but it's still dark and his night navigational skills are still shit so he can't match him. And then Luffy's laughter echoes back to him and Law tries to speed up. "Get back here!" he calls, and it's another minute before he almost runs into Luffy, who's bent over and panting. After settling they both resume a more casual pace.

"What a nuisance," Law mutters, and Luffy, hearing him, stiffles more laughs. Law's eyes narrow. "Hey, you were scared too!"

They get another minute out before Law stops them, frowning as he looks around. They should've been at the next bridge by now. With a heavy sigh he brings back out the map, the moonlight just enough to read it by, and he quickly catches on. The island they were on stretched downward, and he groans as he realizes they were probably somewhere on the lower half. No wonder they hadn't seen the bridge yet.

He _really_ wished he had that compass.

Luffy comes over to take a look and laughs it off as Law points out their misstep. He's the one to veer their course, taking them back where they came from, only at an angle. After a bit they hear the river again, and as soon as Law registers that's what the noise was, the Duskull pops back up right in front of their faces.

Law yelps in the heat of the moment, moving back a step, and then he registers the situation and Luffy's laughing at him and he turns back to the pokemon with a glare. "Oh _fuck off_," he spits, taking a still laughing Luffy by the arm and steering him away.

They make it to the river and Law has hiked his pack further up his shoulders when Luffy voices his doubts about getting in. "It's colder at night," he says, and Law rolls his eyes and marches up the shore and drags him until their shoes are wet.

"Just get in the water!"

Their noise catches the attention of a Golduck that swims closer from upstream, eyeing them curiously. Law still can't believe the pokemon was awake, but Luffy takes no qualms in gesturing to the water-type, face lit up in glee. Law watches with a tired expression as the Golduck swims closer and turns, showing its back to Luffy and allowing the trainer to clamber on. In turn, Luffy scoots up and has Law slide on with him, and they get help from Golduck in crossing the river to the other shore, remaining mostly dry in the process.

Luffy thanks the Golduck and waves it off as Law checks the map again, assuming they were on the next island over. He opts to walk the shore again, tugging Luffy along so the boy doesn't venture off. But the ground slopes higher and higher the further north they get, and at the end, the 'shore' is a cliffed edge. It takes time in the dark, but eventually they find an old rope bridge off the edge of the island. The water is much further down below than Law had thought, so crossing the bridge is a bit nerve-wracking. It's made no easier in the dim light, but they make it across without any trouble, so maybe it wasn't as hard as he thought.

Once they're back on land, the woods cover the sky enough that Law can't make out the map again. He huffs and makes to take out Umbreon again, but Luffy snatches his wrist and jerks them forward, proclaiming he knew the way. Law furrows his brow. "How?"

"I looked at the map over your shoulder," Luffy says, pulling them both forward. "We just keep going straight, and the bridge at the tip of the island is the one we'll cross."

It's not until they're further along that Law realizes Luffy is significantly shorter than him, and wouldn't be able to simply look over his shoulder. He opens his mouth to question this, but then they're sloping downhill, and the effort to maintain footing shuts him down. And then they're at the bridge, very similar to the first two they had encountered.

As soon as they've crossed, Luffy tenses, growing uneasy, enough for Law to notice.

"What's wrong?"

Luffy shakes it off. "No, nothing."

But he keeps them to the edge, not pushing inward much at all, and most notably keeping away from the opposite shore. Law tries not to let it bother him, and then Luffy yelps, and then the ground dips from under Law's feet and they're both sprawled out in a hole, cold dirt beneath them.

Law sighs in frustration, knowing exactly what the pit was, and Luffy sits up in frustration. "What's a big hole doing here?" he says far too loudly.

"They're from meteorites," Law answers, if only to shut him up before he could continue. "They're craters. There are only going to be more the closer we get to Veilstone. They actually have meteors in their craters, in the city." He shrugs. "They've been here for forever, they're a part of the landscape."

Luffy moves to sit up, mumbling nonsense Law can't make out, but he doesn't seem near as disgruntled now that he'd been presented with an explanation. They're climbing to their feet when a loud, warbling sound comes from above, and they look up to see a Bonsly on the edge of the crater, yelling down at them.

"Wh-What do you want?" Luffy spits, which causes the pokemon to grow angrier.

"You woke it up, I'm guessing. Apologize."

Luffy purses his lips, but eventually calms down, breathes out a sigh. "Fine, fine. Sorry."

The Bonsly moves away, still grumbling, as they climb out of the crater. Law checks the map so they can avoid more of them, and they swerve to the forest on the right side, avoiding the left and the numerous craters the map shows it housed. Law can see how uneasy Luffy still is, but as they walk further from the coast, he eases up, so he chooses not to ask.

They're approaching a white-bricked tower in the near distance that shines in the dim lighting, and Law immediately recognizes the landmark. Luffy's attention is captured instead by rustling from the bushes ahead, and he holds out an arm for Law to stop as a small pokemon flies out, face-planting before them. They both wince in sympathy, but it picks itself up quickly, so it couldn't have gotten hurt that much.

It's actually a Mime Jr that scrabbles up and starts blubbering to them, pointing ahead with one of its small hands. Law slouches in his upright position, tired of dealing with everything, but Luffy takes interest and crouches down before the pokemon. It doesn't take long for him to nod and stand, then he's grabbing Law's wrist and tugging him towards the tower.

"What?" Law asks. "What is it?"

"They think something's wrong, at the tower."

Law rolls his eyes. "What, so you can talk to pokemon now?"

"No, of course not." Luffy turns his head back to eye him. "That's a stupid question, Traffy."

Law resists rolling his eyes. Again.

They move quickly, the moonlight now more visible so the trees around them are little more than obstacles to avoid, instead of things in the dark to bump into. When they break the treeline, they're in the small clearing in front of the tower. Luffy wastes no time in releasing Law, drawing in a quick breath. Then he's dashing straight for the entrance, and Law jerks after him. "Luffy-ya, wait!" he calls, but the trainer doesn't listen, so he speeds up enough to grab onto Luffy's shoulder and wrenches him to the side, breaking his sprint and nearly toppling them both.

"You can't barge into the Lost Tower," he says, voice spent as he tries to regain his breath. "It's a resting place -a burial ground for the region's pokemon." He watches as the frustration drains from Luffy's face, replaced by a solemn look as he begins to understand. Law releases his shoulder.

"There's a pokemon in there that needs help," Luffy says, and the fire returns to his eyes, and Law can see that though he understands, he's not backing down at all.

"You shouldn't-" he takes another look at Luffy's determined expression and sighs, turns to eye the tower. "Fine," he grounds out, removing a pokeball from his person. "But we have to be careful -we won't be the only ones inside."

The tower had huge windows on either side that allowed some of the moonlight to shine in. This warded off some of the spirits, but there were still many shadows to hide in. Law releases Umbreon as soon as they're inside, and Luffy starts moving for the staircase at the other end. "At the top," he mumbles. "The top."

"_Don't_ step on the graves," Law hisses at him, as they're picking their way through the second floor, and Luffy stumbles back as soon as he takes the words in.

They rely on Umbreon the most as they're met with the pokemon residing in the tower. Gastly appear suddenly into the air, making faces like the Duskull from earlier in the night had. On the staircase leading to the third floor, Misdreavus come to put illusions over them, making a wall appear where there is none. Umbreon makes quick work of them, once she finds their location.

On the fourth floor, Golbat flutter down from the rafters and screech, causing a ruckus, and blocking the little light from the open slots in the wall.

On the fifth floor, after a perilous climb, the space they enter into is empty, devoid of any graves or lifeforms. There are no windows, so the room is pretty dark, save for Umbreon's fur illuminating the space immediately around them.

Faint cries from the corner of the room catch their attention, and they rush over to see a Chimchar tossing in its sleep, making noise, obviously having a nightmare. A Misdreavus hangs in the air above it, laughing in amusement. Luffy growls and rushes it, scaring it off, and leans over the Chimchar, trying to rouse it. There's no response.

Law sets down his bag and makes to pull out another chesto berry, but Luffy rifles through his pockets and pulls out the lunar feather he'd bought in Hearthome. The soft glow of it causes Law to halt in his movements, and he watches as Luffy holds it out over Chimchar. Immediately, its cries quell, and it stops rolling around.

Luffy leans back and Law catches the smile forming. "I'm glad this thing works," he murmurs, taking time to place it back into his pocket gently. Law starts moving again, pulling out the chesto berry, but Luffy declines it, instead taking the fire-type into his arms. "We can go now," he mutters, still talking softly. Law doesn't think he's ever heard him sound this gentle, but then he looks down at the sleeping Chimchar and thinks he maybe gets it.

They make it to the ground floor and Luffy bends at the waist, apologizing to the resting souls for disturbing them. Law, too, wishes them well, and then they leave.

To their amazement, it's dawn when they exit. They can see a well-trodden path to the left of the tower, and law surmises it connected to Solaceon. He returns Umbreon to her ball and they pick their way through the path, the gentle slopes in the land a welcome change from spiraling staircases and sprawling craters.

Solaceon is very much a town, a quaint place where the cottages are roofed like patchwork and most of the land is fenced-in farms. They're not very far in when Chimchar wakes in Luffy's arms and throws itself to the ground, scurrying off.

"I wonder if it lives here," Luffy muses.

Law shrugs. "I guess we'll see it around if it does. Let's get a room in the PC for now, since we walked all night."

"Yeah." Luffy yawns. "You're right. I'm tired."

Law chooses not to comment.

They walk further in, admiring the landscape. It seemed to Law to be more of a ranch town -there was a fair amount of people out as the sun was barely rising. He calls to what looks like a farmhand up ahead, and she pauses in her trek, her Bidoof running into her feet. They glance at each other, sharing a look, and then she turns back to Law and Luffy.

"Yes?"

"Know where we can find a pokemon center?" Law asks. She nods, pointing them in the right direction. They thank her and she tips her hat at them, then saunters off in her overalls, the Bidoof trailing behind. Law watches her hop one of the fences to a field. Above them, a Staravia flies overhead, cawing out, and several caws answer it back from further away, so it moves in that direction.

The PC in Solaceon is nice and quaint. Nurse Joy is at the counter, and seems surprised when they wander in. Luffy sheepishly explains to her about their journey there, and she smacks him on the head, berating them both for trying to cross the bridges in the dark. She offers to take their pokemon and gives them a room key, then tells them to hurry back out for breakfast.

She serves them fresh, chopped persim berries alongside small dishes of cream. Luffy immediately dunks his plate into the bowl, but Law tries a couple plain at first, content with the natural taste. He dips one in the cream after a bit, though, and realizes Luffy had the right idea. The taste serves to perk them both up, restoring a bit of energy they certainly hadn't gained from wandering around the entire night.

"Where do these come from?" Law ends up asking Joy, and she smiles knowingly.

"They're grown locally here in town. If you like them enough, the man that owns the crop sells them for cheap."

Luffy bobs his head as Law looks to him, and with a few words between them, they opt to take a trip over and see about purchasing some.

The farm hands are friendly about it, letting them peek at all that had been gathered just hours before, while the two were showering and lying down for a quick nap. The Joy was right, they _were_ pretty cheap, so Law buys several, not seeing any harm in it. Luffy had run off, admiring the Buneary scurrying around, but as Law collects the sealed bag of fruit, he hears a call of his name that has him turning to face the boy.

Luffy's on an adjacent side of the field, underneath a nanab tree. His eyes are lit up, and Law sighs. "Luffy-ya, that's probably a part of the plot," he calls.

"Actually," one of the hands answers, "that's not ours. It's just one of the trees in town. That means they're free!" He raises his voice at the last bit, saying the words to Luffy, and the trainer's eyes gleam until Law sighs and gestures for him to gather a few.

Luffy suggests they explore the other part of the town, so after dropping off their berries with their stuff at the PC, they wander out past the building, to the east. The small houses become more sparse as more and more trees take over the land, and they can begin to see the low-laid rocky hills on the edge of the land the further they go. Eventually the trees thin out and they step into a small, flat area before the looming slopes.

Luffy jerks his head to the side and Law follows it just in time to catch a dark shadow dart out of sight behind the rocks. Luffy ends up shrugging it off, dismissing it as a wild pokemon, but it's not enough to wither Law's edge away. All the pokemon they'd seen in the area hadn't been shy like -whatever that had been.

They approach the hills and move further up the side, heading north without actually scaling the rock. Luffy's face grows more pensive as they trek, and Law can feel whatever has the trainer wary, like a sort of eerie air that hung over the place. It comes to an acute point and they both stop and look up several feet above them, where a hole sunk into the hill. It has a strange bordering to it, almost like carvings -a voice catches them by surprise before he can think more of it.

"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you."

They turn to see an old lady closer to the treeline, smoking on a pipe and stepping out of the shadows. She's looking at the hole as well, and when she nods to it, they have no doubt on what her words meant.

"Those are the old ruins around these parts. Some pretty spooky shit, if you ask me. No one goes near them, too afraid of getting whisked off by the shadows that lurk around." She shrugs, dropping her pipe from her face. "That's what I told my granddaughter, but it seems she didn't listen, because she's gone now."

Luffy perks up at this, taking a step toward her. "She disappeared? Maybe we can help search for her, what does she look-"

She waves him off, takes another puff. "No. Anana might've disappeared on her own, actually. She's kinda eccentric like that. But . ." She shrugs. "Well, guess it can't hurt. She's six, so she only barely comes up to my knees." She was a tall woman, so that actually made a bit of difference. "She's got this candy pink hair, got it from her mother, and red eyes, real small. She doesn't blink much, I'm surprised her vision doesn't suck. She mostly wears plain dresses." She shrugs, again. "Kinda unusual for these parts, I guess. Kinda morbid, too, though I suppose that was from me," she grins. Then her eyes turn back to the hills, and she steps back toward the trees. Law can make out one of the small houses not far from them, brick visible from the undergrowth. "Anyway, don't mess with the ruins."

She departs, and even after getting the granddaughter's description, they heed her words, not sticking around to look. Law leads them away from the hills and back into the patch of trees curling around the northern part of town. It's there that they hear the cries of a familiar pokemon, and follow it to see the Chimchar they had met before wrestling on the ground with a Pachirisu. Law recognizes the figy berry they were fighting over almost immediately. Luffy at first only stares on in amusement, but after watching for a minute, decides to play an active role and starts cheering on Chimchar.

The distraction provided is enough for the Pachirisu to zap the fire-type and make a clean escape with the berry. Instead of pursuing, Chimchar falls to the floor and pouts at Luffy, crossing its arms.

"Oh come on, we can find another!" Luffy says, stepping forward. "So don't look at me like that, okay?" He holds out his arm and Chimchar agrees with an excited cry, moving to hop up and dangle from Luffy's outstretched limb. He looks to Law for confirmation, who only shrugs, bemused by the issue.

But their hunt for a figy tree becomes increasingly difficult the more they cover of the northern part of Solaceon. They come across aspear berries growing in thick clumps behind cherry red leaves, Law sparing no effort in collecting a handful. At one point they run across a pinap tree, and Law has Luffy stop and climb up to grab a couple from the high spot they grew in.

"But these are so hard to eat raw, Traffy," Luffy complains as he sits on a branch and drops one of them down into Law's waiting hands. He catches it and turns it over, the size good, covering his palm. Luffy drops one more and he nods, gesturing for him to drop down. Chimchar tries to chomp into one from the next branch over, failing miserably, and Luffy laughs at the pokemon's expense.

"How about I peel the skin and juice it?" Law suggests, and the idea has Luffy's eyes sparkling. He almost moves back up the tree to grab another, but Law convinces him the two they had were more than enough.

They've covered the entire area with no success, and Luffy ends up soothing Chimchar with some razz berries he'd plucked as they'd traversed the land. They seemed to grow in abundance around them, so much so that Law almost thinks they'd wandered into someone's field.

The sun has just peaked in the sky when Law mildly suggests they head back to their rented room to map out their route a little more. Luffy agrees, and they leave the Chimchar with an apology and a handful of razz berries.

Law uses the kitchenware available at the pokemon center and turns the pinap berries into a juice concoction as promised. He and Luffy sip on the drinks as they scan they map. They decide on following a northern route instead of cutting through the eastern hills, their previous encounter still fresh in their minds. Law marks a cafe as their landmark to veer right, which would set them on the straight path to Veilstone.

"With any luck," he tells Luffy, "It'll take us another three days to reach the city."

They take another quick nap and then gather their things. Before leaving, Law runs by their route with the Nurse Joy at the counter, and she confirms it was a good choice.

Luffy pulls the hood of his yellow raincoat lower over his face as they start moving again. They had stayed close to the mountains bordering Solaceon's left because it was the driest area, the rest of the land covered in a mist so thick that sometimes it grew hard to breathe. It was out of the way, but as Law stuffs the map into his jacket again, he doesn't find himself regretting the decision, since it was probably the only thing keeping the ink on the parchment alive.

The trees out here are tall, towering over them in shades of deep green and dull orange, a byproduct left over from spring's bloom. The thick trunks don't help with navigation, and they often have to wander behind each other, in a line more than they were side-by-side. It would be fine if Law could concentrate, but the incessant noise all around them made sure that was nigh impossible. Luffy could recognize the deep calls of Hoothoot and Noctowl anywhere, and Law identified the chirps of Kricketune and the brass sounds made from rubbing its limbs together pretty early on. The sounds echo from all around them, and it doesn't help that the mist and the trees help to hide the pokemon from view.

The only landmark they have to go on are the mountains to their left, a lower range that branched off from Coronet. Until they hit the cafe, there wasn't a point in taking out the map again, so Law resides himself to a long trek and tries not to let-

A Ponyta gallops right by them, only a few feet ahead, and its form is illuminated by the fire it produced. They stop for a moment, eyes tracking its now-distant figure until they can't make it out, swallowed completely by the landscape.

"It'd be nice if we had fire from that Chimchar," Law mentions, but Luffy shakes his head.

"Nah, let it do what it wants. We don't need fire to cut through this mist."

Law tries not to let it get to him, that Luffy had missed the point so spectacularly. He still remembered Chimchar's forlorn expression when they parted from it. Sometimes Luffy was . . . a little too dense.

He begins to notice immediately when the mist thickens, becoming fog right before his eyes. Slowly, the trees start changing as well, and what he thought were pretty tall ones fade into pine, a dark green that looks black in the fog, and then tall-as-towers spruce, easily over the height of Law and Luffy combined several times. He can barely see the mountain range. The fog grows thicker still, and soon Law begins to have a difficult time spotting Luffy ahead of him.

"Luffy-ya," he eventually says. "You're too far out."

At this point it was only by the yellow of his jacket that Law could pinpoint the trainer's location. At his words, Luffy jerks back and grabs his wrist, pulling him along. It's different this way, like they're setting a faster pace, despite the visibility getting lower. It doesn't seem the matter to Luffy, as he navigates around the thick logs easily, dodging them even before they appear suddenly out of the fog. His sure footing surprises Law, but right as he thinks that, Luffy stops them.

"I can't see," he whines. "Why is it so-"

He's interrupted by a cacophony of chirps and coos from Noctowl that seem to be all around them at this point. The noise is jarring, but still more comes in, thin music echoing off the trees that Law recognizes as the leaf whistle of Roselia.

More music appears as they continue forward, overlapping with each other. The Noctowl continue calling out, and the chirps from other wild pokemon become so loud and incessant that Law's ears start buzzing. Luffy doesn't seem bothered by it, still leading them straight ahead, still grasping Law's wrist. Law swears he's going insane, as the noise condenses and echoes and swells, and the fog closes in until he can barely make out Luffy's raincoat only a couple feet in front of him. Maybe he was hearing what he wanted.

Luffy jerks them to a stop, Law coming up short and slamming into his back, knocking them both forward a little. A whirring sounds, then something thuds on the ground up ahead of them that has Law jumping and Luffy dropping his wrist to go and investigate.

It's a fallen branch, the thick dark wood as tall as Luffy and split at the end, like a force had ripped it out from the trunk. A Meditite calls out from nearby, both recognizing the sound from the earlier half of their journey. They eye the branch again in trepidation, and before another can fall just in their path, they veer out of the way, leaving the Meditite hopefully behind.

Somehow, someway, they run into a figy tree. The purple leaves are stark against the bleak nature surrounding it, jarring in a way Law had yet to experience in his lifetime. How . . How long had they been in the forest, again?

"Let's pick a few," Luffy says, already moving closer. Law eyes the canopy for rustling, uneasy, but Luffy insists. "For if we see Chimchar again," he tells Law, holding out the berries, and Law resides himself, taking them with a sigh.

The noise of the wild pokemons' calls seem to peak, rising until they can no further, and Law's eyes are wide as he opens his mouth, no longer able to stand it. "Can you hear that?"

Luffy stops them and tips his head, humming. "Yeah," he answers. "In the distance."

Maybe he is going crazy. He could swear it was all bearing down on them, and any second he would run straight into a Hoothoot or Kricketune, looking at him oddly as they sang their song. He glances around, trying to make out any form, and only they does he realize he can't make out the mountains anymore.

"Luffy-ya," he says, voice quickly losing composure. "I can't see the mountains."

Luffy looks back, face alarmed, then flips around, scanning the fog but it's _fog_ and they can barely see the ground at their feet. They veer more to the left, hoping to get closer and spot their only landmark, but the fog is too thick, and the noise is still there, and everything culminates to leave them directionless.

A flap of wings jerks them to attention, watching as a small blue body shoots past overhead, parting the fog just a bit so they make out the tops of the trees. Luffy makes a noise as an idea springs forth, and he pulls Law forward, and then pauses mid-step, and then they're running.

"Heey!" Luffy calls out, very, very loudly. "Heeeeeeeey!"

Law's ears ring and he's a second away from telling Luffy to shut the hell up when his attention is captivated by a storm of beating wings. And then they're bursting from the treeline, no longer having to swerve around trunks, and a flock of Swablu take to the air and cut the fog, and they stop running to watch, and then Luffy points to their distant left, claiming to spot a mountain.

"There!" He says again, pulling Law along in excitement, still pointing and yelling. Law has to mentally regroup, because the fog is still thick but the air seemed more open without the trees? And if there was a clearing then surely the cafe was nearby, shouldn't they be concentrating on finding that instead?

"Whoa," Luffy shouts, and then he's scrambling back, knocking into Law, and they both stay like that for a moment, breathing deeply. Law recovers first and leans over Luffy's shoulder, and from the angle he can see how close the trainer was to toppling down a deep pit in the earth.

"Be careful, the earth dips heavy there."

Law and Luffy whip their heads to their right, and the disembodied voice morphs into an elderly lady. She's dressed loosely in old robes, her greying hair piled on her head with clips, and Law wonders how long she had been standing there, or when she found the time to wander up and notice them without them noticing her in return.

"Come, step away from the edge," she tells them, and they oblige. "It's too foggy to see, you shouldn't be wandering about right now. Come have tea with me instead. My house is just beyond here."

Law glances over at Luffy, meeting the boy's eyes. He looks worn, gant, and the near-death experience surely didn't help. Law can see his own condition in Luffy's morphed expression, and it doesn't take long for them to agree, thanking the lady gratefully.

They come closer and she nods, turning on her heel and slowly trekking away from the pit. "I'm Tsuru," she tells them. "I tame dragons." They enter into a clearing and she pauses in her step. "Dear," she calls out. "Come here for a moment."

An Altaria appears through the fog, landing softly on its feet before them. Luffy stares on in awe, but Law's breath catches in his throat at the sight. He has to force himself to breathe again.

"Will you help with this?" Tsuru asks the pokemon, and the Altaria moves into the air. It whips its wings around until the fog has cleared a bit, just enough for them to make their way to a small cottage pressed against the side of the mountains.

It's a lot warmer inside than expected. Law and Luffy gratefully sink into the small cushions seated near the low table in the center of the room. Tsuru steps into the side space that looked like the kitchen, and returns not too long later with a tea kettle and a few well-tended cups on a small tray. "Now, what were you doing wandering in the fog like that?" she asks, pouring them tea that smells of jasmine and apicot. Tastes like it, too, when they each have a sip.

Law pulls out the map, glad it was dry, and opens it to point at the cafe they were supposed to have been heading towards. "We came from Solaceon, en route to Veilstone. We were told to turn down this path once we hit the cafe here."

Tsuru nods along as Law speaks, quietly sipping her tea. After he's finished, she leans back in her seat, holding the cup in her lap. "You've passed it," she says.

Even in their exhaustion, both Law and Luffy perk up at this. "Wha- That can't be right," Law says, and Luffy interrupts him. "Look, it's straight here. That's hard to miss!"

Tsuru leans forward and rests her finger on a spot on the map up high north, right nearly on the shore. It was well past the cafe, and the distance between the two was longer than between the cafe and Solaceon. "This is my house." She waits for them to grasp it, calmly setting her tea on the table. "It never gets incredibly foggy down by the cafe, not like up here. It just stays wet, because the area here, next to it, is in constant rainfall." She moves her finger to the woods right of their landmark as she speaks. When she looks up, though it's unintentional, both of them look plenty disgruntled, staring at her but feeling ashamed of themselves. Luckily, Tsuru's not an idiot, and this isn't the first time travellers have wandered too far.

"Spend a night here. I insist."

The two glance at each other. At her words, Altaria chirps and waddles closer to the table, setting herself between Tsuru and Luffy. She rubs her face against Luffy's cheek, still cooing, and Luffy smiles, reaches out to ruffle her soft coat.

"Altaria could use the company," Tsuru tells them. "She's missing her friend. It's been lonely for her."

That catches Law's attention. "Friend?"

Tsuru smiles. "Stay, and I'll tell you."

Law turns to Luffy, who nods, still pressed to Altaria. "We need the rest. Plus, we've already spent time by wandering all the way up here. It wouldn't hurt."

They take their bags off and set them against the wall, and as Tsuru goes to make some rice, sip on their tea and get warm under the blankets thay had been offered. Dinner, too, is quiet, but not uncomfortable. Once the dishes have been cleared, Tsuru returns from the kitchen with another batch of tea and a small picture frame under her arm.

She pours them more tea and sets the picture down so the two can see. Depicted is a young girl -no more than eight- side-by-side with a Gible. Both of them are smiling, huge grins facing the camera. Law knew how ferocious the dragon-type line could be, so seeing the picture is odd, if a little impressive.

"That's my granddaughter, Tama." Tsuru relaxes more in her seat, but her shoulders curl in defensively. "She was -probably- taken from home one day."

Law jerks his head from the picture as Luffy sets his tea down a little too forcefully. "Wha- Probably?" Law asks, maybe a little too loudly.

"Hmmm. Yes." She smiles. "That's my best conclusion."

After a moment of silence, Luffy gestures for her to continue, his face pensive.

"One day, we got a visit from a research team headed by a very strange man." She pours herself more tea, and has a sip before speaking again. "It's rare that we get visitors way up here, and stranger still that they wanted Gible." She nods to the picture. "He sought out the dragon, claiming it a rare oddity, and offered to take it off our hands.

"I denied him and he offered money as compensation, insisting Gible would be a help to their research. I held my ground against him, but my patience wore thin very quickly. 'Gible is Tama's to raise', I told him. The pair were playing out in the front of the house, away from the strange men, and I ushered Carsar and his team out before they could take notice, demanding they leave.

"Tama didn't come home the next day," Tsuru tells them. Her posture is more rigid now. "I noticed Gible was gone, too, so I sent Altaria out to look for them without much concern, just thinking they were off playing somewhere. Nothing came of it, though. They've been gone since." She looks up and smiles at their expressions, the concern clear. "I'm not worried. They'll be back in due time."

"How can you know for sure?" Law asks.

"Because _that_ man came to visit me." She leans back. "And he told me he would bring her back."

* * *

In the morning, Tsuru helps Law mark up a new route for their journey to Veilstone. She has them go to the coast first to grab their bearings in the fog. There was an area on the map where the land didn't quite connect, and seawater collected in a lake-like area further inland. Once they reached that, they would cut across and venture into the heavy rainfall, travelling downward until they hit the series of platforms used to traverse the rainwater buildup that collected in the lowland. If they took that path to the right, they would reach Veilstone's gates in due time.

He's thanking her when Luffy comes barging in, form slightly damp from the atmosphere -Altaria worked to make sure the clearing around the house wasn't foggy, but it was still misty, to an extent. "Traffy, there are berry plants out here! We should get some, come see!"

He turns to Tsuru, silently asking for permission, but she just laughs at him. "Those are free farming. Help yourself."

With Luffy's help, he picks out chesto and wiki and aguav, all good stock that he can't believe are bunched together. Tsuru helps bag them all for preservation, and they've just finished when Law spots the sitrus bushels a bit further into the fog.

"What's with that?" Luffy asks, as Law walks out to pick one. It was ripe.

"These are good to have. They boost the body's natural healing factors."

That seemed to be a good enough explanation for Luffy, because he comes over and helps Law pick out a generous amount.

"This fog sure is annoying," Luffy mutters as they're walking back to the cleared space. "Hey, Tsuru," he calls out. "Why do you live all the way out here? Sure seems kinda lonely."

"Solace is necessary to train dragons," she says from the porch. They come up and she picks open another paper bag and begins to slide the berries inside. "Dragon pokemon are a lot of work to tame. Having distractions lessens your chances. Plus, I'm not completely alone." She smiles as a shadow appears above them, and Altaria flaps her wings and lands beside the deck. "I have my pokemon, and Tama. But, sometimes, I offer to teach trainers and their dragon-types the move draco meteor. Only the hardened types seem to find themselves this far north, so the prospects are always good." She moves her gaze to eye Law as she says this.

He blinks, hums a question, her look catching him off-guard. She smiles conspiratorially.

"I can sense your dragon."

Luffy immediately turns to look at him, eyes bugged out. "Oh, oh! I wanna see!" he starts bouncing in place, then leaps to his feet. "I didn't know you had a dragon-type! C'mon, Traffy!"

Law sighs, but in the end he nods and stands as well. He digs out a ball from his pockets and expands it, sending out his pokemon.

A Jangmo-o appears, lets out a yawn, and then rolls on its front pads to stretch. Its legs are black, but its scales are a sunshine yellow that's a bit jarring in their environment. It looks to Law and tilts its head, the pink heart shape resting there tilting as well.

"I've never seen that one before," Tsuru mentions. Luffy nods in agreement.

Law bends down, holding out a hand, which the dragon sniffs. "It's an Alolan dragon, Jangmo-o." The pokemon seems to recognize Law's scent, because it's rubbing its cheek to his skin a moment later.

"It's kinda small," Luffy observes.

Law nods over to Tsuru. "Well, training dragons is a lot of work."

Later, when they're packing up their things to leave, Tsuru beckons him to the side and offers for him to stay, and for her to teach Jangmo-o draco meteor. Law shakes his head in reply, telling her he was Luffy's travelling escort to Veilstone. "He'd get lost without me," he ends up saying, though he was sure that they'd both veer off course at some point during this last stretch.

Tsuru understands, though, and bids them both safe travels. Altaria says goodbye as well, rubbing her cheek with Luffy again, much to the trainer's delight. Then they head off from the clearing, entering immediately into the thick fog.

Condensation collects on the back of Luffy's jacket the further east they head. It grows more noticeable the closer they get to the shore, and the fog thins as the humidity picks up. It gets mistier, enough that they're able to make out the deep green around them. The ground is dark from condensation and deep-colored soil, and though it's slippery, it's not wet like mud was. The land moves up and down, and they're careful to watch their step.

At one point it starts sprinkling, and soon it turns into a shower that has Luffy quickly throwing the hood of his yellow raincoat over his head, wrinkling his nose in discomfort. Law's surprised he hasn't complained about his shoes, but maybe he was used to it.

They reach the shoreline to find it rocky, big off-toned slabs covering the area. The trees are still high pines that come right up to the edge, wood leaning against rock. Around the opposite side, where they can now see the gap that allows the seawater to flow in freely, there's not really even a shore, the tall pine covering the land.

The water is smooth, the rain calming so now only mist covers the area. Marill splash around further out to sea, playing, but the ripples don't make it back to the inner coastline. Law and Luffy pick their way a little onto the rocks and walk the shore for a bit. The smell of brine is strong, and the mist seems to carry it as well. At any other time Law would be concerned the scent would stick, but he didn't see them remaining dry for very long, so he brushes it off.

Eventually they go far enough, the first time the water crooks into a point, and head back into the woods, straight into the dense fog.

* * *

A loud _caw_ is what thrusts Law awake.

His eyes pop open and his head tilts towards the source. A Staraptor is gazing down at him from a tree branch above, watching with an expression he can't quite identify. It was enough to make him startle the rest of the way awake, sitting up and moving his head immediately as a rustling captures his attention.

A Chimchar -the same Chimchar, he thinks dubiously- is sitting near Luffy. It turns to watch Law carefully. After a moment Law looks back up to the Staraptor, who hasn't moved, and finally drops his shoulders, letting the tension seep out. He nods to the Chimchar, who in return looks a little less cautious, and then remembers Luffy's promise.

So he stretches his arm and brings his pack closer, opening it and digging out the sack the figy berries were stored in. "Luffy," he calls, the same time the Staraptor caws again, and both sounds are enough to wrench the boy awake.

Law passes him the sack and Luffy stares at it, a bit dazed from just waking up. The Chimchar speaks and Luffy's attention snaps to it, and Law can see the sleep fading from his eyes as a stark grin appears.

"Chim! Hey, how ya been? It's good to see you! I thought we'd run into you, but hey, what a coincidence that it's here." He goes on and on, and Law smiles at the scene. It was pretty amazing, that they had all three ended up way out here.

Luffy unfolds the paper from the berries and holds one out to Chimchar, who takes it in glee, bouncing around. Luffy laughs and takes one for himself before wrapping the remainder back in the paper.

Overhead, the Staraptor takes off, big wings beating harshly to lift it swiftly into the air, leaving the branch it had been on bouncing. Law flinches at the sound, expecting a dive back down, but Luffy waves it off, both arms wildly swinging in the air. "Don't worry!" he tells Law. "It was just concerned for lost travelers, but we know where we're going."

Law squints in confusion.

Luffy starts chatting aimlessly with the Chimchar, who munches on its berry. Law turns away and digs in his pack, discovering the remainder of their food. He takes it out and sighs, residing himself to berry meals until they reached the city. "Luffy-ya, after this we're on berries until we hit Veilstone." He grabs some out as he says this, unrolling from the paper and beginning to pry the leaves off.

Luffy looks up from his more one-sided conversation. "Oh! I know this great diner there -when we get there we should go!"

Law pauses in his food prep. "You've . . been? To Veilstone?"

"Oh yeah, a bunch of times! Just through the cargo port, though."

Cargo port? Law's brow furrows. How does that happen?

Luffy comes closer and sits beside their limited food stash, rummaging through the packing. "Shanks knows one of the ship captains personally, so it was never really a problem for me to hitch a ride. Plus, I'm _great_ company, so the crew loved me too!"

Well. Law didn't doubt that.

They let Chimchar join them for lunch -breakfast? Whatever time it was. The weather was too abstract to really tell. The pokemon seems to appreciate it, and sure is eating, so Law doesn't doubt it was hungry.

"You know, Chimchar really makes good company," Law mentions. "Might be nice to have along."

"Yeah?" Luffy hums. "I wonder . ."

It takes every ounce of Law's willpower not to directly say it, because surely Luffy wasn't that dense, but? Maybe he was?

"Hey, you wanna come with us?" Luffy suddenly asks the pokemon. Law blinks, caught off-guard, but it doesn't take long for Chimchar to nod in agreement. "Oh sweet!" Luffy takes out a pokeball and lets Chimchar bop its head against it, disappearing inside. His grin is contagious as he looks over at Law, and his smile is fond as he gazes back. Sure took him long enough.

"Welcome aboard!" Luffy announces, letting Chimchar out again. The fire-type lets out its own cry in agreement.

* * *

Law can't help but be suspicious of Luffy now.

The knowledge that he's been herded to sinnoh multiple times to train under this Shanks character is a little mind-boggling, and his peculiarities are becoming more noticeable.

He doesn't have any trouble leading them through the fog, swerving tall tree trunks and staying out of the path of wild pokemon. Law recalls Luffy in Jubilife saying he was helplessly directionless and can't help but question that now.

Luffy doesn't seem to pick up on anything being wrong, so Law allows himself to observe. His hood slides back on as they enter the fog-mist-rain combo area, and Law also allows his face to drop a bit, shielding him from all the wet. The noise is muted around them, the only real sound the rain as it splatters onto leaves.

And the squirming of an Abra in the dirt as it suddenly teleports to a few feet away from them.

They stop immediately, caught off-guard, but as quick as the Abra was there, it squeaks and teleports out of sight again. Law and Luffy glance at each other, asking a silent question. The bushes rustle to their left.

Luffy reacts first, dive-tackling Law and yelling for him to get down. A Kadabra storms out from the underbrush, obviously irritation in its posture, and wastes no time in firing off a psycho cut attack that slashes even the air.

Law's eyes face the pokemon as they fall back, so he sees clearly when Luffy thrusts an arm into the air and something shimmers. The psycho cut rams into the shimmering and bounces up, exploding, and then Law sees the shimmering is all around them, almost like a forcefield.

Then they're landing on the ground in a heap, the breath knocked from them, and the Kadabra is still there and still pissed off for whatever reason and it roars out and then they're scrambling to their feet and taking off in a dead run.

They run blindly, sprinting through the forest, not a care for the rain that pelts their skin. The Kadabra storms after them, firing off more dangerous attacks and even levitating objects to hurl at them. Law's just dodged another branch when he sees Luffy dart into the thick fog and follows, but even that doesn't seem to inhibit the psychic-type's movements, so they move back into a more misty region to get better visibility. And then they're weaving in and out, hoping to throw it off, and Law can barely keep track of Luffy's yellow-jacket-clad form and his breath is tight in his chest and sometimes his feet slip on the ground and an attack slams into the dirt where he just was so his heart leaps in his throat-

And then he's jerked to a stop and Luffy is helping him scramble up a tree, because they'd gone so far that they were apparently short enough to do that now, no longer towering over them. They're huddled on a branch and the Kadabra appears and they hold their breaths, but somehow it still makes eye contact with them.

A noise from behind makes them jerk their heads around, and they come face-to-face with the Abra from before, resting on a branch. With a glance at each other, and a roar from the Kadabra leaving them little time to think, they dive forward and take hold of the Abra just as it teleports away.

They land rough, in a heap with Abra on top. It squirms until it frees itself from their earlier grasp and scampers off their pile.

Law notices first how much thinner the fog was around them. "Let's keep moving, before it finds us," he pants out, just regaining his breath.

Luffy sits up, still shaking from the second close-call. He jerks his head in a nod and they both stand and hurry along, cutting into the rain-mist combo again and then heading south.

The rain sets in quick, drenching then in seconds. Luffy pulls back on his hood with a scowl and hikes up his scarf to his nose for good measure. Law's mind is still racing. The terrain doesn't stay all damp and pretty, either. Pockets of water collect in the uneven ground every few feet. Everything turns slippery. Moss appears on scattered rocks jutting from the earth. There's fallen leaves gathered in mushy piles and other forest trash strewn about.

After what seems like hours of running, Law makes out an old plywood bridge, colored deep by the rain, and one of the platforms it connected to. So this was the area Tsuru had mentioned. He grabs Luffy's shoulder and moves over to the platform, and they sit underneath it, in a little hollowed-out alcove that protects them from the rain.

He gives himself time to catch his breath before he starts screaming. "What the _hell was that_, Luffy-ya?" He takes in another deep breath. "With-With the projections that seem like forcefields, the ones that warded off the first attack. And what about how the fog doesn't ever seem to affect you -no, more than that, you can see things no matter how low the visibility, like in Mount Coronet, swerving those stones, and that pit by Tsuru's house, and the bridge when we were on our way to Solaceon? And then you have all these crazy-accurate premonitions, like knowing Chimchar was on the top floor of the Lost Tower, or that the Meditite was gonna toss that branch at us? And _how_ can you just be able to understand pokemon, like the Chingling and the Mime Jr and the Staraptor from this morning? _What the hell_, Luffy-ya?"

He yells until he's out of breath and panting by the end of it all, the humidity eating at his throat until it's dry and he's left coughing. Luffy's face was shocked at first, but over the course of Law's rant, it changes into a guilty expression that has his heart twisting.

"I'm sorry." Luffy sighs. His shoulders drop down, chest deflating. "I'll tell you the truth. I'm sorry for keeping it from you." He draws in a deep breath, and Law steadies his own.

"Have you ever heard of aura?" Law shakes his head. "Most haven't," Luffy answers. "Aura is the essence of all living things. It's the life force, though not like a soul, because it can be manipulated. Like . ." Luffy exhales, closes his eyes. He puts his hands over them. "Hold up your fingers, however many you want."

Law does, and Luffy names off four. He was correct.

Law holds up two, and Luffy says it.

He does seven, and Luffy guesses right again.

"One more time," Law says, because he's a skeptic. He has Luffy turn around, but when he holds up three fingers, that's Luffy's answer.

"I have to concentrate," Luffy says, still turned around. "But if I do, I can see the aura as shapes, as a physical form, flowing through everything around me. Through people and plants and even the stones in the mountain." He lowers his hands from his face. "So the fog doesn't mean much when I can see the aura from the trees. And the dark doesn't do much when I know where every rock and trip in the path is."

He turns to the side, almost facing Law again, but moreso the wall, and closes his eyes. "There's a strange pokemon I've never seen before on the edge of the woods. It's splashing in all the puddles. It's pink, with a long tongue. Oh, now it's coming closer."

Law looks out and watches as Luffy narrates a Lickitung as it stumbles out of the trees and dives for a deeper puddle, splashing water around. He turns back to Luffy to find himself being watched.

"What about aura guardians?" Luffy asks. "Have you heard of them?"

Law shifts on the ground. "It's a legend in Sinnoh," he answers. "An old folktale told to children, but it's never been anything more than a myth."

But Luffy smiles this small smile, shakes his head. His voice grows quiet. "Shanks is an aura guardian."

Law grows silent. The air grows a little heavier. Luffy's smile doesn't grow any bigger, but it doesn't shrink, either. His eyes flit around, like he's nervous, but they're back on Law eventually.

"He . . He's teaching me how to emit and manipulate my own aura." Luffy moves his legs around, sitting more comfortably. "Aura . . . being sensitive to it is something you're born with, so it's special. Manipulating it can have different results. The thing I used to block the psycho cut _was_ a forcefield. I can make it more visible, too, but it takes time I didn't have then. And there's aura spheres, like what Lucario can use. Shanks and his Lucario can both use the attack by manipulating their aura, so it's not limited to a pokemon. It's not really a part of their moveset, it's just that the Lucario line are sensitive to aura as well. And it's dangerous when you can't control something like that, because it can really easily hurt someone. So Shanks has been training me, even though he lives way out here, because I didn't really have anyone else to teach me. And that's why I've been to Veilstone, even if I had to get there on a cargo ship, even if it's inconvenient to come so far out. I don't . ." He hesitates. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Law settles back against the wall after Luffy is done explaining. Everything made sense, and he couldn't just ignore Luffy's demonstration. That doesn't stop his mind from reeling, not being able to adjust to the fact that a tale from his childhood is suddenly very, very real.

He feels pressure on his arm, and looks up to see Luffy staring at it with a frown. "You're bleeding," he says. Law glances down to the torn sleeve, spots the blood spreading from the squeeze, but the cut is already dry. He wonders where he picked it up from -he hadn't even noticed.

Well. Their chase had been pretty intense.

He tries writing it off, but Luffy's not having any of it, so he opens his bag and digs out a few berries to appease the boy.

Law takes off his coat and then mashes down the sitrus, lum, and persim berries into a bowl, grinding them into a paste. Luffy watches in interest as Law rolls up his sleeve, but before he can slather the mixture on, there's a rustling from out in the rain that has Luffy's head darting to look out, watching a Chansey wander by. "Oi!" he calls, very much too loudly. The Chansey startles, but does stop to look at him. "Please come help!"

The Chansey looks at them warily, and Law sighs. "Knock it off," he bites out, and Luffy stumbles over an 'oh' and looks back at Chansey sheepishly. He gestures to Law's arm, still smiling oddly. As soon as the pokemon spots it, it comes over and huddles into the small space.

"Will you help?" Luffy asks, and the Chansey nods, gently taking Law's arm in its own.

The air around them glows and Law feels much better after a few moments. He watches as the cut closes a little, and the bruising fades to a lighter, healthier-looking shade of skin. "Thank you," he tells Chansey, slowly taking his arm back. With his other hand he spreads the berry paste on, and then wraps a thin sheath of bandages around it so it's not all sticky.

They thank the Chansey once more, and Law pulls out a berry to give to it. The Chansey takes it happily and then moves out into the rain again.

The weather didn't look like it would clear anytime soon, and Law is hungry, so he pulls out more berries to chop up. They were running low on the ones he'd prefer to eat, and he hums at this. Luffy picks up on it, questioning him. "Oh, I'd just rather save these for injuries," he says, motioning to what they had left.

"Oh!" Luffy stands, thrusting his hood over his head. He grins down at Law. "Leave it to me, I'll go find some!" Law looks at him oddly, gestures to the rain, and Luffy waves him off. "I've been still for too long, I need to walk around. What berries do you want?"

Law thinks on that for a moment. "You can never have enough pecha," he finally says.

"Okay, got it. I'll be back by the time you have everything ready," Luffy promises, and then he's darting out into the rain. Law stares after him for a moment, and then he gathers himself and goes back to slicing up the berries.

True to his word, Luffy returns with a different assortment of berries in his arms. They're purple as far as Law can see, and Luffy sets down the wiki first, and then the bluk. Some had popped from the handling, and Law rolls his eyes at the fact.

Luffy wasn't done, though, setting down some pecha berries Law had to smile at. "Can't believe you found some," he murmurs.

"Oh, that's not all."

Law looks up. There's bluk juice on the front of Luffy's jacket, staining the yellow for the moment, because it would probably be washed off in the rain. Despite the fact, Luffy's grinning ear-to-ear. "You'll never believe it!" He pulls out a handful of berries from his pocket, and when he sets them down, Law's jaw drops. They were mago berries.

"Yeah, that's what I did too," Luffy laughs, watching Law's expression.

He picks one up, turns it over in his hand. They weren't as curved as he preferred, not as ripe as intended, but the fact they were here at all was amazing. He'd only ever seen them in Sinnoh close to his village. He was surprised mostly that Luffy remembered them -they'd only had them once, and on the first leg of their journey, no less.

He smiles over at Luffy, who had plopped down and shoved a few assorted berry slices into his mouth. "Thanks."

"Yeah." Luffy's still grinning. "No problem."

"No, uh." Law pauses, gestures with his hands. "Thanks for letting me in. With all this aura stuff. I'm guessing it's not well-known for a reason?" He waits for Luffy's nod before continuing, noting how subdued it was. "Sorry for getting upset like that."

Luffy shrugs. "It's okay. I knew I could trust you with it, 'sall. Shanks not being here . . I'm nervous. I know it shouldn't have anything to do with being an aura guardian, he doesn't broadcast that, but it's still . . ."

"A possibility?" Law offers.

He nods. "Yeah. I'm glad I told you, though. It feels good, that someone else knows."

The rain never really stops. The puddles and pits of water around them actually only seem to be getting bigger, so eventually they cut across to the next platform, opting to get moving again. From there, there's a marked path into the treeline that they take. It's so tread on that it's impossible to miss, even with the rain, so navigating it is easy. They zig-zag, wandering back south even though it seems a little strange, and then cut back north when the path veers that way.

Eventually they're met with a drop-off, a few feet of rock where the land juts out. The ground is still wet, and it's muddy beneath, so it's a little work to scale the cliff so they don't fall at the bottom.

It's not long after that they can see the gate to the city through the rain.


	3. the hunt for sabo

_**chapter warnings**: ptsd attack, child exploitation, character death (flashback only), pokemon brutality, referenced pokemon poaching._

Veilstone is an old, bustling metropolis nestled into the side of the mountains.

The port was in a valley -Law can see it from here. The land plateaued close to it, but other than that, everything sloped upward. The gate they just came out of was about halfway up, and Law can make out a radio tower at the top in the distance.

He frowns. They had made it, which meant his time with Luffy was now up. That was fine, he supposed. Now that his errand was over, he could-

He frowns deeper. He didn't . . have anything to do next. He hadn't had a plan besides going home.

Was he really okay with-

"YES!" Luffy screams, thrusting both arms into the air. "We made it!" He starts jumping, shouting, and Law looks on, bemused and completely pulled into the present.

Then Luffy's grabbing his arm and tugging him down the slope. "Come on, come on, we have to go to Makino's cafe now!"

On the edge, the apartment buildings are long and look run-down, paint chipping on the sides and rust collecting on the tops. Law knew the city was more industrial than anything, so it seemed odd to still have buildings that looked like they'd been constructed when it first formed.

Maybe the sea spray kept all the metal in bad shape?

It never really changed as they went further in. Everything seemed a little run-down. But, the people around them didn't seem to mind. If Law had to guess, he'd say it worked good enough. Maybe they didn't need fancy things to function, as long as they could function. All you really needed to live was food and shelter, so he could see it.

They're very much out of the rain, but the fine humidity from the ocean cast over the city keeps them from completely drying. Luffy tugs his sodden scarf off at one point, wringing it out and shrugging at the twigs and leaves caught in it from their mad dash. Instead of putting it back around his neck, he flips his hood off and opens the rain jacket, tying the scarf to his waist.

It's early evening when they reach the building Luffy has led them to, so Law can only imagine how packed the place was going to be. Still, he lets Luffy drag him inside.

"Makino!" He shouts. "I need food!"

Makino turns out ot be this little woman behind the counter. "Luffy!" she shouts back upon seeing him. "Okay, come sit down!"

Luffy drags Law along to the bar, sitting right in front of her. "I need-"

"I know, I know," she laughs. "It really has been a long time . . . Let me grab those plates."

True to word, she brings out the food quickly, setting down three plates in front of Luffy to Law's one. But then she leans an arm on the counter, sets her head in her chin, and asks Law to tell her if he needed more.

Law watches as Luffy scarfs down the first plate. He thinks he hears a 'you're the best, Makino' somewhere in there, but it was hard to tell. He's on the second plate soon enough. Where was this appetite even coming from? They'd paced themselves with food pretty good the entire way here, had he been unintentionally starving the boy? He'd assumed his appetite from the beginning of their journey was more from jitters, but apparently he was wrong. Luffy just ate like this all the time, when the resources were available.

Eventually he turns away and starts eating. Thinking too much on it wouldn't do any good now.

"So, you're Luffy's friend?" Makino asks him, eyes twinkling. Law swallows his mouthful before replying.

"I brought him here from Jubilife," he answers. She laughs at that.

"Well, thank you. Luffy's never been anywhere in Sinnoh without Shanks. He'd probably never have made it here on his own."

Luffy visibly tenses when she mentions Shanks, enough for Law to notice. He finishes quickly on the last of his plate and stacks it on the other two. "I'm here to see Shanks," he tells Makino. "He wasn't where we were supposed to meet up. So he's gotta be here, right?"

Makino pauses for a second, lets the words sink in. "Actually . . I haven't seen him for quite some time now."

Law hears someone call for her from behind, where the shuffle of people in and out is rampant. The place is busy, but Makino doesn't respond. He sees a blur move past and turns to watch a pokemon deposit food at a table, then move to help another patron.

"It's my Happiny," Makino says, noticing where his eyes went. That made sense. Especially if she ran the place, like he'd been led to believe.

Luffy's slumped against the bar. "He's such a fake-out," he whines. "Why can't he just show up? It's been so weird without him."

"It is strange," Makino echoes. "Seeing you two apart like that. It's never happened before, actually."

"Shanks told me he had something to give me," Luffy tells her. "He said 'Luffy! It's super important you come here immediately! I'll be waiting!' But guess what? He's not waiting!"

Makino's face morphs into one of slight worry. She hums, opens her mouth to speak, but a call of her name sends her across the counter. She smiles apologetically at them, moving down.

Law takes the chance to ask a question. "How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"Uh . . maybe three years?" Luffy sits up as Law's shock becomes apparent. "All of the training had been when I was way younger. We don't seen each other much at all in person anymore." He frowns. "That's why this is such a big deal, that he's not here. It's really, really weird."

"Maybe . ." Law shrugs. "Maybe something happened? Like with Tama?"

Luffy blanches. "No, no, Shanks is way too strong for that! He can't just- be . ." He peters off. "What if he was the one who talked to Tsuru? Who told her he'd bring Tama back? What if . . ." He sits up straighter now. "What if something went wrong?"

Makino comes back and Luffy leans across the counter. "Shanks is officially missing!" he tells her. "This is a big deal!"

She kind of laughs, pulling back. "Oh, he was elusive to begin with. Always has been."

"Not when it comes to our training."

The smile slips from Makino's face as she sobers. "That . . You're right. He takes that seriously. But I don't . ." She hums, considering it all.

"Oh!" Luffy's eyes light up and he digs around in his pockets, pulling out a worn photo Law immediately recognizes. He leans back over the counter, handing it to Makino. "Have you seen Sabo around?"

She takes the picture, and blinks as his words settle in, glancing up to eye Luffy before examining it. She shakes her head before too long, and Luffy's smile immediately drops, the boy slumping in his seat. Someone calls her name further down the bar and she moves toward them, still eyeing the person in the picture.

A gasp makes her look up, the man's eyes drawn to the photo. "That's the one!" he cries out. "The man I had told you about, that's him, Makino!"

She blinks, then looks over to Luffy as his head shoots up. She glances between him and the man before gesturing Luffy over, holding out the picture for him to take.

Luffy practically jumps into the seat beside the old man, picture held tightly in his hand. "You've seen Sabo, old man? This one here, you've really seen him?"

The man is endlessly confused, but nods to Luffy.

"That's my brother," Luffy tells him. He sucks in a breath before a million questions spew out at a billion miles an hour. "Where did you see him? How far back was it? Was he still in these clothes? What was he doing? How come you remembered him?"

The man's jaw drops at Luffy's declaration. Then he's gripping Luffy by the shoulders, effectively halting the stream of questions. "Your brother is a great man! Sit back, I'll tell you the story." Luffy does that, practically on the edge of his seat, teeming from excitement.

"I have a pokemon, my Cleffa, you see. She was taken from me by pokemon hunters, and I was helpless to do anything about it. And Sabo there rescued her for me, reunited us!" He shakes his head. "Actually, it's a lot less heroic than I'm making it sound. Your Sabo was with the hunters, working with them even, but also not?" He hums. "He switched the pokeballs where they couldn't notice, and tossed my Cleffa's back to me before they left with whatever was in the other one. I hid it in the folds of my clothes so they wouldn't notice. He has to be against them in some way."

Luffy's eyes blow. They drop to the picture, to Sabo's face.

"That's already been a few days ago," the man continues. "They've probably all already cleared out by now."

"Do-" Luffy pauses, swallows. His face is pensive. "Is there any chance you know where they'll go next?"

"As a matter of fact," the man nods. "I overheard them talking about the Great Marsh being their next target."

Luffy swivels in the seat, turning to face Law. He can read the question portrayed there clear as day.

Law sighs, tries to think. "The marsh is by Pastoria. It's a southern city, down below us-"

He cuts off as Luffy jumps up and plants himself into his original seat. He grabs both of Law's wrists, looks him in the eyes. "We have to go. We can't miss this chance!"

And Law blinks, momentarily surprised to speechlessness. 'We?' That was what he had said. Actually. Who was he kidding, Luffy just needed a guide again. That was it. But he wasn't going to crush the kid's hopes. This might end up being the conclusion to his two year search.

If he was with pokemon hunters, though . . That would be a dangerous confrontation, even if Sabo didn't fully side with them. Tsuru's words play in his head, about Tama being stolen away, about Gible being taken being the initiative. Was it possible this was the same group? He'd certainly never heard of a pokemon hunter gang in Sinnoh before, so perhaps it was a new development. Surely there wouldn't be more than one, though?

This might be more complicated that they thought.

"Okay," he finally says. "We'll do it."

Luffy springs up from his seat, nodding rapidly. He grabs his bag from the floor and slips it on, and then bolts for the door, and then he's gone and the door is swinging shut and Law is sitting there, stunned.

Then he rises as well, rushes to slip on his pack. He thanks Makino for the food and heads out as well, running after the yellow-clad figure down the street. "Luffy-ya!" he calls. "Luffy! Wait!"

The city winds. It's a big port town, and the streets are narrow and then wider, and Law has difficulty keeping up. "Luffy-ya!" he calls, but the boy doesn't slow down. Law has never been to Veilstone. He doesn't know the way like Luffy does.

Plus, it would get dark soon. Not a good time to be wandering around in an area that felt as run-down as it looked. The path has sloped downwards and Law can make out the southern gate and guesses that's Luffy's course, so he opts to slip from the path and cut around.

When he appears again it's to jerk sharply in front of Luffy, who can't slow down from a few feet away, and the impact leaves them both sprawling on the concrete.

Luffy groans and rubs at his head. Law's panting, and he refuses to bother moving for a minute.

"Pastoria is at the southern coast. You have to go all the way down from Veilstone, and then back towards Mount Coronet to reach it. On foot it would take several days." He grimaces, looking at the fading light above, not able to meet Luffy's eyes. "By then he might be gone."

The silence is broken by a drawn-out sigh from Luffy, who dejectedly stumbles to his feet and offers a hand to Law. "Alright, Traffy, you win," he mumbles, pulling him up. "No more trying to run there."

"I'm sorry," Law says. I wish you could make it, he doesn't say. I wish there was another way.

Right as he finishes the thought, Luffy perks back up, swinging his head to look at Law. "Wait, I think I might have an idea." Law blinks and Luffy grins in response. "Remember when I said I rode those cargo ships to get here?"

* * *

Veilstone is a bay city. On the northern side, where the mountain slopes into lower, sea-level ground, the land curls around the water. The cargo port is fairly sized, the biggest in the region aside from Snowpoint, but to Law it's absolutely massive. Canalave's port had nothing on this.

Huge, white containers lined one of the strips, and loading docks next to them housed a couple boats. Storage facilities of all sorts were spread throughout the area, and people milled about between them. Big, tall windmills churned the air and provided power. A ship docks further down and the waves churn as it settles.

Luffy weaves them through all the people. There were sailors milling about, loading personnel heading to ports, people dressed like electricians. They pass a news anchor doing a report to the backdrop of the setting sun. Even teenagers could be seen running about here and there. They cut down a line of ships, all docked and massive, and stop in front of a freighter near the end. Luffy looks up at it, chuckling, and puts his hands on his hips. "This is it!"

"Luffy-kun!" A voice calls, and they turn to see a large man coming towards them. Law's eyes catch immediately on the captain's hat, and then Luffy is running towards him.

"Jinbe!" he shouts in turn, throwing himself at the captain.

"It's good to see you, Luffy-kun!" Jinbe responds. "Been a while." He calmly grasps the boy's arms and detaches him from his person. Luffy's sandals hit the concrete and Jinbe gestures back to the ship, ushering him Law's way.

"I need a favor, Jinbe," Luffy says, tone a tad more serious.

Jinbe's brows quirk up and Law takes a moment to examine him. He was fairly large, muscular, dark-toned. His hair was frizzy and dark, and hung to his shoulders where it wasn't tucked into a knot on top his head. If Law had to guess . . Hoenn, definitely. Maybe something else, too, because he looked more half than anything.

"Let's hear it, then," he responds, and his voice is deep and thick. Law catches the sparkle to his eye, sees the bemusement flickering there. At least they weren't holding him up, or if they were, he didn't seem to mind all that much.

Luffy digs out the picture and thrusts it to Jinbe, who takes it more carefully. "Sabo, my brother," he tells him. "I . . He's been missing for two years now. I came here looking for Shanks, but then someone said they saw Sabo in the area a few days ago. They said he was with some pokemon hunters? But that he wasn't really helping them, I don't know. Then he said they should be down by the marsh in Past-Pastro-" He frowns, looks back to Law.

"Pastoria," he corrects.

"Right. That." Luffy's head swivels back to Jinbe, who's eyeing the picture warily. "It takes too long to get to Pastoria from here. I have to go and see, Jinbe, I have to get there in time. Will you take me? If we travel by ship, we can make it, right?"

Jinbe frowns, hands the picture back. Luffy's expression is firm and challenging as he slips it back in his pocket. Jinbe hums. "That- What a situation. That is- Well- I'd hate to deny you, but-" He sighs.

"Please, Jinbe."

Jinbe turns to look at the ship. His hand curls under his chin, rubbing at the scruff there. "If we go by the east coast," he mutters. "Maybe we can . . No, we'd have to skirt it. But would that be enough- Hmm. Maybe Aladine could handle it." He sighs and drops his hand. "I have three days until I need to transport cargo, so it won't be leisurely." He lets a small smile grace his expression. "We leave in an hour."

* * *

Jinbe leaves his crew and they set sail under the light of the moon. Floodlights filled the bay area as soon as the sun was low enough, and Law casts one last glance at them before ducking into a doorway that headed further into the ship.

The captain's room had a big square table in the middle that they stand around. Jinbe throws down a large scroll and unrolls it to reveal a full geographical map of the region. Law's eyes widen as he takes it in, and he doesn't miss the grin the captain tosses his way.

He stabs a finger at their location, glancing back to the stern as he does. The window panel gives them full view of the sea, and their path was set for the moment. "We're here now. We're sailing out east, and we'll cut under the Battle Zone eventually." He traces the path with his finger. "Then we'll go over the Pokemon League, around this island here, and down parallel to Sunyshore. Then we circumnavigate until we hit Pastoria, here."

Luffy frowns, moving his hand over the map until it settles on the space between the League and Sunyshore. "Why don't we just go under here? Seems faster."

Jinbe laughs. "A faster way to run aground. The water's too shallow for big ships like this. There's a whole bunch of sandbars between Sunyshore and the League, a perfect place to end up stuck if you're in this big ol' thing."

"Oh." Luffy drops his hand. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"It will take twelve hours until we arrive." He eyes them both carefully. "Go rest. You both look like you deserve it."

It had been a long day. Law shudders when he thinks that they started it still in the forests northwest of Veilstone, and then the exhaustion pulls at his shoulders. Luffy drags him to the back deck, which is much, much smaller than the front deck, but Law knew cargo was stored at the front, so it made sense. Luffy darts forward and leans over the railing, gazing out at the ocean. Law follows, not far behind, and crosses his arms over the metal.

The sun was setting, and there was just enough light to make out the Pelipper flying inland, calling out loudly to each other. Further out, Gastrodon lurked in the waves, and Luffy's enthralled immediately, having never seen one before.

Law hums. "I actually saw one before I got to Jubilife. It was pink and brown, though."

"What?" Luffy turns his gaze to him. "They're different colors?" The ones they could see were blue and green.

"Yeah. It's a habitation thing, I guess. Or migration?" He shakes his head. "There are east and west Gastrodon and Shellos, who they evolve from, and Mount Coronet divides them. Something about the population morphing to adapt to either side of the region. I really don't remember."

"Show me," Luffy says, and Law pulls out the map. They step away from the railing and lie it out on the deck, holding it down with their palms to keep the wind from catching it.

"Mount Coronet is this big one," Law says, pointing to it. "And this is it's mountain range, and then the range that branches off of it. It almost goes to Snowpoint, but since it's so isolated further north, the ranges pretty much divide the region in half. The different environments caused their forms to morph." He shrugs.

Luffy shoots a finger out, landing on a line on the top right half of the map. "What's this?" he asks, and Law looks at it and internally groans. It was a thin line connecting the League to an island high north. The map was more touristy than he had thought, then. "Won't we run into it?" Luffy continues. "That would be bad. And it wasn't on the other map either, I don't think. I should go tell Jinbe-" He's getting to his feet and Law grabs at his arm to prevent him from running off.

"It's a myth," he states, and Luffy's brows rise. "The line," Law clarifies. "It's a pathway in a myth, but it's not actually there. I don't know why it's on here. It's a myth."

Luffy hums, sitting back down. "What myth?"

"A flower pathway to a crop god. A harvester pokemon. The island is called Flower Paradise." Law begins to fold the map up. "It doesn't exist, either." He squints. "Supposedly. I guess I can't confirm that. But the pathway definitely doesn't exist, so there's no danger of running into it." He stuffs the map on his person instead of back in the bag, knowing they would need it later in Pastoria.

Luffy's back at the railing by the time he finishes, and he's calling out in awe. Law glances over and wanders closer, and Luffy points further out to sea. A Mantyke leaps from the water, and Law echoes Luffy, mild surprise on his face. The Mantyke jumps a couple more times, and then it's swimming out of sight.

"That was so cool!" Luffy grabs Law's arms, bouncing in place. "Wasn't that amazing? It was-" He's cut off by his own yawn, and Law smiles at the fact.

"We should get some sleep, like Jinbe said." Luffy frowns in response. "Don't give me that. We've been going all day, and we'll need the energy later."

"Okay, okay," Luffy mutters, casting one last glance at the sea before heading back inside. The entrance room they came into is pretty barren. There are a couple portholes on the wall with the door, and to the right of that, their packs rest against the wall. The floor is hard beneath them, and Law has a moment to think about cots and who to ask before Luffy slumps down against the wall their bags were on.

It seemed a little cold to be doing that, but Law doesn't question it. He was the guest on the ship -Luffy had been on board countless times before. He wanders over and sits beside him, legs splayed. Luffy's head falls to Law's shoulder and his eyes droop. "I never thanked you," he mumbles. "For the trip. For getting me to Veilstone." He attempts to smile, but the edges are lopsided, and he fails more than succeeds with how tired he now is. "Thank you, Traffy."

Law hums in response, all that he can manage. His eyes slide shut as the day's events catch up to him.

A Poliwrath shaking his shoulder is what wakes Law up. He jumps as his eyes open and catch on the pokemon, and the motion is enough to rouse Luffy from slumber. He lifts his head slowly, blinks at the pokemon, and yawns. "Hey Poli," he mumbles. "Did Jinbe send you?"

The Poliwrath nods in response and backs away from Law. Luffy snuffles a bit, still obviously tired, and shuffles to his feet. He beckons Law along, so he rises as well, casting another wary glance at the pokemon.

"We're approaching port," Jinbe tells them. They've just walked in to the control room and the captain is facing the panel, hands on the wheel. He doesn't turn to greet them. "Grab your bags, I'll meet you on the main deck."

So they shuffle back to the small room, now aptly more awake. Luffy in particular buzzes around, and Law can feel his excitement from across the room. They gather their stuff quickly and Law lets Luffy guide them through the winding halls until they come out on deck. Jinbe is waiting for them on the edge.

"I'm leaving in twelve hours," he says. "If you need on the ship again, make sure you're here before time is up."

"Jinbe!" Luffy suddenly cries out, barreling into the captain. "Thank you! Thank you so much for taking us!"

Jinbe huffs, and Law can tell he was used to this. He pats Luffy's back a couple times. "I wish you luck in finding your brother, Luffy-kun."

The port was small in Pastoria, and there weren't many people around. They wander further into town and are faintly surprised at how barren it was.

"Where's the marsh?" Luffy asks, and Law shakes his head.

"Dunno. I've never been here."

"Oh, okay." Luffy shrugs. They turn the corner and he nods to the pokemon center down the road. "Let's ask, then!"

"It's north of the city," the nurse on staff tells them. "But the gate you have to pass through is closed for the festival going on today." She smiles apologetically. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow to get in."

They walk out the door and Luffy huffs, a bit dejected. "Great," he mutters. "What do-" He stops when he sees Law turned to face something.

The gate wasn't that far from them. Law could make it out. He glances back at Luffy, then scans the area around them. Still no people. They must all be at the festival.

Law grabs Luffy's arm and sets in a dead sprint for the gate, shushing Luffy's strangled noises with a harsh look. When they reach it, he ducks down the side, running along the brick of the building.

"Wh-"

"This won't stop the hunters," Law interrupts. "We can't let it stop us, either. We have to go now."

Luffy's gaze hardens, his demeanor morphing into something more serious. "Right."

They run and run, until the building is long past them, until the soft grass underfoot becomes slimy, and the ground soft and sticky, and the noise of pokemon comes from all around them. Yanma fly overhead, their wings buzzing, and Luffy looks up to admire them as they zip around.

"I recognize them from Johto," he says to Law. "Yanma."

"Huh." Law squints, trying to better discern the shape.

Luffy turns to face him. "What, you didn't know?"

Law shrugs. "The pokemon living in the marsh aren't found anywhere else in Sinnoh. I've never been here, so . . my exposure is limited."

They trek on, and the grass turns into stubby patches of moss. The ground is softer, pulling, and Luffy grumbles as his sandals get caught, suctioned to the earth. The trees here were spindly things, with high branches and small leaves, and green growing on the bark.

Law leads them right, and they take their time walking around, looking for anything suspicious. A little easier said than done, because there were a lot of pokemon, and the cries of one ended up being a playful fight rather than hunters poaching them. The swampy water was already a few inches high, and the moss patches growing from the ground grew in clumps that were hard to navigate around without losing footing.

A sound makes them look left, and they turn to see a pair of Croagunk moving by them. The pair pause to eye them for a moment, but after finding nothing of interest, continue on their way, croaking loudly.

"I know that one," Law tells Luffy. "Croagunk. It's the subject of the festival back in town."

They move further in, and as the water reaches their ankles, Luffy begins to grumble more and more. Their pace gets slower to allow him to pick his shoes carefully from the mushy ground with every step, so he doesn't lose them. "This is bullshit. I don't like the marsh anymore," he complains.

Law shrugs. "Maybe if you had better shoes, you'd appreciate it more."

Eventually the wetlands even out into mushy ground, which was far better than traversing through water. The trees get thicker here, and they're wandering without really knowing where they step, the ground so covered with underbrush and low-growing plants that it made seeing impossible. They can't make out where the ground disappears until it's already happened, and Luffy is thrashing around in waist-deep water.

"Hah!" He throws his arms up, squirming. "Tr-traffy-I-" He pauses. "Oh." He straightens, feet touching the bottom. He looks over to see Law with a hand secure against a tree trunk, saved from the same fate. Luffy huffs, slamming his arms down into the water and splashing his face in return. "I hate the marsh!"

A call from further down, quite mocking from the tone, has them turning to face a Golduck. The pokemon is doubled over, laughing, and pointing at Luffy.

"Hey!" Luffy yells. "Knock it-" he throws his arms into the air again. "Oh whatever! I give up." He stumbles back a couple steps and sets a palm on the shore, but Law stops him from climbing up.

"Just go across. We don't know how far it extends, so going through it would be easiest."

Luffy sighs and glares up at him. In turn, Law crouches down and lowers himself into the water, and Luffy knows he's not getting out of this one. He moves to swim ahead, frowning as the water gets deeper.

The Golduck moves closer and Luffy snaps his gaze up to meet it, but it's not threatening. In fact, it turns around and gestures to its back, offering help across. Luffy sighs, climbing up. "Thanks, I guess," he mumbles, and the Golduck croaks again by his ears. It swims out to get Law after Luffy's on the opposite shore, shaking the water from his form. He takes a step forward and his foot immediately leaves his sandal. He huffs, stepping back into it and heaving it up.

But it happens again, the ground suctioning them in. And again, Luffy losing both and landing with feet in the mud, grumbling, and slipping them back on, wrenching them from the ground. He takes a step forward and on the second try his sandal doesn't budge, so he kicks out, shouting, and it flies a few feet away. "I can't walk like this!" he shouts, wrenching the other shoe off as well. He step forward to reclaim the other one and tucks both of them, mud-caked as they are, into the pocket of his rain jacket.

Well. Uh. Law would just worry about that later.

They do make better progress with Luffy's shoes off, as he's able to move faster as long as he ignores the slimy feeling on his skin. Hopefully they wouldn't run into another pool again. It was colder down south, and Law was already feeling it in his soaked clothes. Plus, they were back to wetlands again, sloshing around in three-inch water.

A noise too much like a human shout gains their attention, and with a shared glance, they move over to it, darting more northward. There was a break in the trees, and they stop before they reach it, sloshing of footsteps becoming more audible. From their spot they can make out a couple of the native pokemon at the feet of two figures. They seemed like shady enough characters, so Law has them move closer, concealed by the underbrush.

One of them was holding onto a more humanoid-like pokemon, long tongue flicking out as it cried in distress. Its skin morphs colors, trying to blend, and it squirms around. "Come get this one," the figure says.

"Shut it! I'm busy!" The other snaps, digging for a pokeball. He finally procures one and captures one of the motionless pokemon, this one small and purple with long pincers on its tail and appendages. It disappears soundlessly and the person pockets the pokeball, eyeing the other pokemon. It had a large head with curling teeth and vines as legs. Law had never seen anything like it.

Fed up, Luffy darts up, his arms swung back to run, and Law grabs him to stop him from moving. "Shh." He shakes his head when Luffy looks at him, the fury in his eyes plain as day. "I have a plan. Listen."

The two jerk their heads towards the trainers when they wander out of the brush, warily eyeing them in distaste.

"The marsh is closed today," Law calls to them.

"Who the hell are you?" barks the one holding the pokemon.

"We work at the gate," Law says, not giving Luffy a chance to speak.

"With those clothes?" The other one sniffs. "You don't look like it."

"Well. We were supposed to be off today." He smiles, and it's so fake and he can see in their faces that they see through it. Good. "Now, let the pokemon go."

"What's the deal?" the same one snaps. "The pokemon here are supposed to be free to capture, right?!"

"You are correct," Law nods. "When the marsh is open, that is. But it's not today." His eyes narrow. "Let the pokemon go. I won't ask again."

"We'll just call the authorities," Luffy adds, crossing his arms.

It's tense for a long movement. No one moves. Law is very aware of their surroundings. Luffy wasn't wearing shoes, but the ground seemed clear of anything obstructing. There was a fair distance between them and the hunter pair, and the two were closer to the edge of the clearing than they were. If they chose to run off into the trees, he and Luffy would have to hurry to avoid losing them. If they chose to fight, there was very little cover, and they were more towards the center, so they would have to be careful.

One thing was for sure. There was no other option. Law already knew they wouldn't release the pokemon.

The two hunters, gauging the very real threat, make their decision. They dig out pokeballs, and one captures the other motionless pokemon on the ground. The other makes to do the same, but he found he was no longer holding the humanoid one. It must have slipped away in the confusion. "Shit," he spits, and then his partner is grabbing him and they're sprinting away into the trees. "I can't believe things went so wrong! What the fuck is that Caesar Clown going to say when we don't have a third pokemon for him?"

"Don't worry about that now, dumbass! We can't let them call the cops, no one is supposed to know we're here!"

Law and Luffy glance at each other, and then take off after them, the conversation waning the further the distance becomes. The clearing is far from dry, and with a whump Law finds he's now moving alone, and turns back to see Luffy face-planted in the mud. Before Law can backtrack, Luffy throws himself to his feet, screaming. He's coated in mud now and his glare would be priceless were they not in their situation. He takes off faster, in no time catching up to Law, who starts moving once he was sure Luffy was okay.

The trees are thicker here, and it's hard to make out their pursuits. The only thing they have to go on are the crashing footsteps as they trample through nature. They zig-zag all over the place, and more than once Law reaches out and jerks Luffy forward by his elbow to stop him from tripping up. They were too far behind from the earlier slip-up in the clearing -they couldn't afford any more mistakes. Luffy sucks in a deep breath and shouts at them to get back here, several times, and takes the lead at one point, winding through the path with an accuracy that Law could probably write off to aura.

They break through into a less-dense area, a long strip where they can see the hunters far ahead of them. Something feels off, to Law, something he can't describe. Their pace is getting faster as the ground gains density, and him and Luffy wind through the trees, keeping an eye on the backs of their targets.

One of them turns suddenly, releasing a pokemon into the air. Law's breath catches as he makes out the Yanmega, and he throws out an arm to stop Luffy, slamming his feet into the ground in the process. Luffy ends up tripping from the motion and slams backwards into the ground. The Yanmega lets out a cry, loudly, and then an ancientpower attack comes hurtling toward them, just as Luffy hits the earth.

Law uses the outstretched arm he'd caught Luffy with to pull a pokeball from his person. "Aegislash," he calls, hurried and panicked, and releases the pokemon.

Aegislash comes out, drops its shield from its body, and Law drops to one knee to avoid the backlash. His pokemon sweeps out with its body to strike the attack, pulverizing it with one smooth motion. From behind him, Luffy's complaints for the rough treatment die on his lips, and his eyes widen as he watches the foreign pokemon straighten out.

The pokemon moves to the side and Law quickly realizes the hunters were nowhere in sight. He jerks Luffy up and they continue running. This time it's mostly in a straight path, only little deviations, but it doesn't matter much, because they see no sign of the hunter duo.

Luffy jerks them sideways, and then they're landing in thick underbrush, tall too, almost up to Law's waist. "Put your pokemon away," Luffy whisper-yells, and Law hesitates for a moment. But, he trusts Luffy's intuition, so with a quick thanks he returns Aegislash and then moves forward with Luffy, through the brush.

Not long later, Luffy startles and turns sideways, sliding into Law and pushing them both down. He hisses loudly as they collide with the ground, and blood spills onto Law's face. He blinks up and catches on the gash in Luffy's shoulder, and then reaches up to pull him down further as he hears the shuffle of feet ahead.

"Did you get him?"

"Dunno. Let's keep moving."

After a moment Luffy grunts in pain and sits up, head still covered by the underbrush. He slides into a crouch, concealed, and keeps moving forward. Law grabs his uninjured side to support him, but he has to crouch lower since he's so tall, so it's not much help. They move carefully, Luffy already panting from the effort, and Law has to resist the urge to stop and look at the wound. They had to get out of the area, find a new position. Another wound like that and they'd both be down.

They stumble out into the open, a small clearing that's more of a pathway ahead, and Law moves to put Luffy behind a tree. He glances around, ears open for footsteps, but it appears safe for the moment. So he ducks back behind the tree and moves to Luffy's side, eyeing what he could make of the gash with fabric in the way. It was a nasty cut, and it was still bleeding, but he would live. Law reaches up and wipes a hand over his face, clearing the blood off.

Voices make Law perk up, peering out from behind the tree. After a moment, Luffy joins him, breathing finally steadied as much as it could be with his injury. The two hunters come into view, darting off, but it's slower than when they had been chased. He watches as a third person cuts into their path, approaching them, and the two slump their shoulders in relief, gesturing around them.

They point to the direction they had come from and the new person turns back, and Law is faced with the man from Luffy's picture. There's no mistaking it, with the burns maring the side of his face, and Law lets out a breath in disbelief. He turns to Luffy, knowing what would happen if he saw and what they couldn't afford to let play out, but it's too late. Luffy's already caught sight, pupils blown, and he jumps up, immediately letting out a ragged breath and leaning against the tree trunk, shoulder still dripping blood. "SABO," he screams, in the loudest voice Law has ever heard, and he reaches up to pull Luffy down again, thoughts spiraling.

Why was Sabo with the hunters in the first place? If he was working against them, deceiving them, like the old man at Makino's cafe had implied, then there must be a reason. He and Luffy had already shown them they weren't on their side -implying Sabo had relations with them wouldn't do any good. Outing him when they didn't yet know the importance wasn't something Law was going to let happen.

All three of the hunters turn to face Luffy, and the two they had chased gasp in panic. "That's the one!" one of them sputters to Sabo. "Let's go!" They take off and Sabo nods, leaving with them.

"Sabo!" Luffy calls out again, a yell but not nearly as loud, almost strained, like he couldn't believe he hadn't at least been acknowledged. Sabo turns to say something to one of his companions and Law sees his arm dart behind his back. And then they're out of sight and Luffy's slumped down against the trunk, eyes wide.

"That's a signal," he says, very quietly. "From when we were kids. We crossed our fingers and tapped them against our backs." He sounds so defeated, and Law watches him as he slides further, so that he's sitting on the forest floor, legs spread in front of him. He's still bleeding, one hand clutched to the wound. He's still covered in mud, now crusty and dried. He's still barefoot. Overall, he's in pretty bad shape.

"I trust Sabo," Luffy mumbles. "I wanna wait for him, for whatever he's going to do."

Law looks up to the sky. There were stormclouds gathered in the sky not too far from them, more west of Pastoria. He looks back to Luffy, and then makes a decision. It would be best for them to get cleaned up before anything else they did. He picks his way to his feet and reaches down, holding a hand out for Luffy, helping him up.

They walk slowly, southward, and leave the uneven and sticky ground of the marsh behind. The trees morph into thin trunks and branches up high, leaves more feathery than before. The marsh's humidity carries, though, lingering around them. Luffy is very quiet, and it's very odd, so Law fills the silence with his own voice.

"We can wash off all the mud in the rain." He points in the direction they were heading, where dark stormclouds were already pouring. "Once you're cleaned up, I'll take a look at your wound again, tend to it. Then we can head back to Pastoria, wait there. We still have time until Jinbe leaves."

All he gets is a nod in response.

They still had that lum berry, so he'd grind that up and hope it killed any sort of status condition the cut might've inflicted. Then . . sitrus, that would be good. And one of the wiki berries. He'd make two separate batches, one to apply to the wound and one to ingest. He looks down to his jacket, eyeing the fabric. No . . he couldn't afford to lose any of it, not in Sinnoh. But he could tear off a sleeve of his shirt, use that to tie around Luffy's arm. That would be fine.

A small noise snaps Law out of his thoughts, and his eyes land on a Shellos several feet away, smiling at them. He waves a little at it.

"What's that?" Luffy asks, voice still subdued.

"A baby Gastrodon," Law says. "A Shellos."

"Ooh." Luffy brightens a little, wonder sparking in his eyes, and the corners of his lips upturning. The Shellos greets them again and then shuffles off, something else catching its attention. Law waits until it's out of sight before moving forward.

They hit the rain eventually and are soaked fairly quickly. Luffy shivers as the cold hits him, but doesn't complain, keeping stride as they trek through the downpour. He slips his sandals from his jacket and lets the rain soak off the mud, and then upturns his jacket pockets to wash them as well. For the most part everything is cleaned when they come upon a small clearing surrounded by the trees, and the rain begins to peter off.

This was good enough. Law sets his pack down and crouches to open it, rifling through for the correct berries. A noise from Luffy has him glancing up, and he sees the trainer wander to the edge of the clearing right as a pokemon bursts out from the trees.

Luffy gasps, then a big smile overtakes his face. "Volcarona!" he exclaims. "You're Sabo's, right?" A nod from the pokemon has him tripping forward, moving closer. "I thought so! It's so good to see you, it's been forever!" Volcarona tips its head and Luffy moves his hand over its neck, rubbing the fuzz there. That's when he notices the letter attached to it, hung by a string, and with growing curiosity he moves to pull it off. "Hey, Traffy, I found something."

Law doesn't hear him.

He's frozen, eyes locked on to the fire-type. And then he's not seeing Volcarona, he's seeing the embers that rain down on him, burning holes in his clothes and leaving marks on his skin. He sees Abra hunched over, hissing in pain. A deep laugh reverberates through his skull, getting louder the longer his eyes are stuck on Volcarona's form. Do better, the voice demands. Work harder, Law! He hunches over, trying to pat out the small blazes on his clothes, leaving his palms scarred in the process. Above them, the embers continue to fall.

Law's breathing thickens as the memories overtake him. It becomes shallow, rapid, and his throat closes up. Luffy wanders over, asking what was wrong, but Law doesn't hear him, doesn't see-

The Volcarona calls out in concern as well, having followed after Luffy, and Law's head snaps up to it, eyes wide in terror. And then he's crying, vision blurry, and he's stumbling back, and his breathing gets faster.

He starts screaming, flailing his arms to swipe at the embers that weren't actually there. "Stop!" He calls out. "Just stop it!" Abra is wailing in his mind and his foot catches and he falls, hard, and then uses his hands to crawl backwards, still creating distance between the pokemon. He's gasping for breath now, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

All of a sudden a hand rests on his cheek, and he feels a presence in front of him. But he's still not in the present, and his anxiety skyrockets as he pictures the face that the hand should belong to, the calm smile and blonde hair and gentle eyes. And he can't take it, no, anything but that please-

He passes out.

* * *

Law awakes to the sound of rain.

A hand is running through his hair, softly untangling the dark strands. When he looks up, he's met with Luffy's smile, the boy peering down at him with Law's head resting on his lap. He hums and Luffy stills his fingers.

They're sheltered by the tall canopy of a wide tree. Law slowly sits up and sees they weren't in the clearing anymore. Out from underneath the tree, the rain falls, hard and steady. Law looks down. "Sorry," he whispers, voice hoarse.

Luffy shakes his head. "It's not your fault." The words make Law look back, and Luffy locks eyes with him before continuing. "I put Sabo's pokemon away. He sent a pokeball with it. This, too." He reaches behind them and grabs at the letter on top of his bag. "I haven't read it yet." His hands curl around the seal. "I thought I could now, if that's okay. You're okay, right?"

Law breathes out a sigh and turns to face Luffy, crossing his legs underneath him. "I have a story to tell you, first. About where I went after leaving Sinnoh."

Luffy sets the letter back on his bag and leans against the tree trunk, giving Law his full attention.

"I guess . . I can start from there."

* * *

Law arrives in Alola, Malie, on a nice enough day.

The terminal is crowded. He clutches Abra tighter to his chest and wiggles his way through, coming out to a cloudless sky. It's hot. Really hot. He wanders down the boardwalk and manages to find an empty bench, sitting for a moment to slip off his jacket and stuff it in his pack. He takes the time to glance inside, noting his dwindling supplies. Furrowing his brow, he looks around for prying eyes, and when none catch his attention, slips a couple bills from the bag to his pocket. That should be enough, and that way everything else was secure.

He carries Abra in his arms and makes his way into the city. It's not like what he's used to. Everything is very clean, people stop and greet each other so casually, and the buildings are spaced in a way Jubilife had never been, everything crammed together in a grey hellscape.

There's a library on the northern end of town, with a big clock embedded into the front. He takes a moment to admire the structure, but he doesn't go inside. He had to get food for Abra first.

Inside the pokemart he grabs a basket, intending to place Abra inside to free up his arms. But then the shopkeep give him strange looks, and he puts it back, hurriedly rushing to the pokemon food section of the store and grabbing for a bag. He pays with one of the bills in his pocket and leaves right after.

With the food safely tucked away, Law wanders to a small store near the center of town to get more food for himself. This time he does get a handbasket, but the looks he receives are more along the lines of adoration instead of bewilderment. He gets a few questions from passing strangers that hit too close to home to make him rush, and as the lady ringing him up mentions him getting a pokeball for Abra, Law knows he can't stay in the city any longer than necessary.

He leaves with more bills in his pocket, albeit a smaller amount in total, and with a heavier pack. It felt good to have supplies again.

Abra eats some of the food on the edge of town. Law has a chocolate bar, because he's ten and anxious and chocolate seemed good at the time. It's good now, but it doesn't really calm him down like he thought it would.

The wilds outside of the city are full of vastly unfamiliar things. There are bamboo shoots sprouting up everywhere in place of regular trees, and Law stops to examine one early on. The grass is tall and green and luscious, and soft as they walk through it. The sun beats down in an unfamiliar heat that has sweat gathering on the back of his neck.

But the area is full of more dangerous unknowns.

Law's next step forward is halted by a sticky web thrown at the ground. His foot bounces back instead of landing on it, and he gasps with the effort. A noise has him turning to face an Ariados nearby, resting on a flat rock. He's never seen one before, so his only impression is 'big, scary bug'. The Ariados stands and shoots another web, this one large enough to cover Law's body, and only Abra teleporting them away saves him from that fate.

He falls to his knees upon impact, the shock of it all nearly stealing his breath away. Abra encourages him to stand, so he does, glancing around this new area. It was still filled with the strange shoots, but the pokemon wasn't there, so he guesses Abra moved them to a different place on the route.

"Thanks," he tells Abra, crouching down and patting his head. Abra nods in return.

A roar turns Law's smile into a frown, face pale and brows pinched in fear. Ahead of them, marching to them through the trees, was a biped pokemon with big teeth. It glared at them and roared again, and Abra jumps into Law's arms, shaking. His feels his breath stutter. They couldn't fight. They'd never battled before, and even if they wanted to, Abra only knew one move.

The pokemon, what he would later discover to be a Gumshoos, roars again and moves faster towards them. Law squeezes on Abra, and then he's blinked out of existence.

The wilds near Malie are vicious. There are all sorts of unfamiliar pokemon and unfamiliar geography, and it quickly becomes a high-pace situation. A bird with a tri-colored beak spots Abra from atop one of the bamboo shoots and nose-dives toward them. They get too close to a mushroom pokemon and it releases bad spores. Each time, Abra teleports them away to safety. But this doesn't come without limits, and Law can see how tired his pokemon is becoming.

A wild Pangoro attacks them next. It's a beast and a giant, towering over them both. It has large fists and a scary face. "Abra," Law whispers, because he thinks they trespassed in its territory, by the way it was scowling at them.

Abra squeezes his arms with his tiny claws. He sags into Law's chest, completely boneless, and Law realizes with a startle that Abra was all out of energy.

The Pangoro roars and charges them, and Law gasps out a breath and dives away from a fist. They land roughly on the ground, but Law scrambles to his knees immediately, knowing if he faltered they would both be in trouble. "You'll be okay," he tells Abra, voice trembling. "Just rest. I've got this. You'll-We'll be okay."

He was wrong.

The Pangoro overpowers him easily, and Law himself is exhausted already from his trip, his long day. In a last-ditch effort, Law turns to run, but Pangoro catches on and lashes out, and then there's a big tear in Law's pack, all his supplies spilling out onto the forest floor. One of his straps breaks and the pack dangles limply from one shoulder. Law feels pain from where the strap had rested against his side.

He doesn't stop running.

They hit the edge of the forest and enter into a rocky area, the ground tough and uneven and the rock high enough to limit his field of view. He's panting rough, sweat dripping from his face, and Abra lets out a noise of concern, but he doesn't stop.

They weave around the rocks until there's an opening, and when they break through, Law sees the white sands of a small beach down below.

He wastes no time in stumbling over, finally breaking from his run, and nearly collapses when the ground tilts down to lead to the shore. When they hit the sand he slides to his knees, and then flops to his back, working to regain his breath. There's no one on the beach, not even any pokemon. The only sounds are the wind and the waves, and his harsh breathing.

The sun is setting when Law picks himself to his feet to have a look around. In the corner, near the rock wall, him and Abra find a pile of berries underneath a large palm tree. Law almost sighs in relief and moves forward to grab one. But as soon as he's grasped it, the berry pile explodes upwards, and a giant pokemon appears right in front of him. It lets out a booming, disgruntled noise, and Law drops the berry in surprise, squealing. He grabs Abra and runs to the other end of the coast.

The pokemon doesn't follow, but Law is too frightened to bother moving more. He hunkers down on the sand, lets its warmth soothe him compared to the wind chill and dropping temperatures of night, and curls Abra to his chest. He falls asleep and tries to forget his worries for a bit.

When they wake up, the pair find an oran berry before them. Law has no doubt is came off the pile from the other day, and he frowns at it. Did . . the pokemon give it to them? Why? Did it feel sympathetic?

He holds it out to Abra. "Here. You should eat it, you need your energy today more than I do."

Abra takes the berry and breaks it in half. He offers the other half to Law, and Law smiles, taking it.

"I guess that's another way of doing it," he mumbles, nibbling on the slice. He didn't feel very hungry, the other day's events playing through his mind. Alola was so dangerous. He didn't like it. He missed Sinnoh's pokemon, who were always so kind and friendly. Everything was so aggressive here.

He twists to watch the waves and winces, the motion aggravating his side. He lifts his shirt and sees a red mark on the skin, probably from the large bear pokemon yesterday. Frowning, he takes a big bite of his oran berry and then presses the rest to the mark, letting the juice seep onto the skin. He winces, but soon enough he's sighing in relief, the pain dissipating.

He still had money in his pockets, which was a life-saver. But without knowing where the next civilization was, that wouldn't be a help. He couldn't buy supplies out in the middle of nowhere.

With this in mind, he opts to get moving. They moved further south, traveling along the edges of the island and scrounging on berries in lieu of real food. But it's a tough act, since the few they find tend to be guarded, and the others tiny and unripe. They slept curled together in secluded spaces, and not for more than a few hours at a time. They travel until Law makes out a rooftop from his spot atop a decline, and he descends rapidly, Abra in his arms chirping with excitement.

The building is quickly cast aside in favor of the grass ahead, and Law trips in his rush towards it. In the center is a small pool of water, surrounded by a few tall palm trees and low patches of squatty grass. He drops to his knees and sets Abra down, cupping his hands and dipping them into the water. They both drink until they're satisfied, then lean back, panting. After a moment, Law dips his hands back in and scrubs water onto his face until he feels clean again.

The wind picks up, blowing sand onto them, and Law turns towards its direction. There was a looming opening between tall red rock walls, and sand piled up as far back as he could see.

They wander around the buildings, but none of them stand out in interest, and there's no any sort of mainstream store. He does find an older woman on the edge selling herbs, and though it used up the last of his money, Law doesn't hesitate.

"What's that entrance over there?" he asks her, pointing to where the sand gathered. She peers at it, eyes narrowing, then chuckles.

"That leads to Haina desert. I wouldn't venture in there, boy."

He heeds her warning.

Abra eats the expensive herbs and immediately perks up. Law is glad. A berry diet wasn't very sustainable, even if only for a couple days, and they hadn't had much. The herbs would boost Abra's energy, and also work to heal the scrapes it had endured.

But now he has a problem. He's out of everything. And he wasn't a pokemon trainer, not legally, so he couldn't battle for money. Abra couldn't fight, and he couldn't capture a pokemon that could without being able to access pokeballs.

Law's stomach growls. They hadn't eaten today, and though the oasis was a paradise in these rockies, it was pretty squatty, no other plant life but the scrubby grass to be found. A noise attracts his attention, and he tightens his hold on Abra. Maybe . . he could ask for food. For Abra. If they asked questions, he would leave. He bites on his lip. Abra could teleport them away.

Except that wouldn't solve his issue. He would still be hungry and without supplies. And in danger. It wasn't like he could fight anyone, either. Abra couldn't, and he wasn't stupid enough to believe he could. He'd only been able to walk so far in a day, after all, since leaving home.

He moves to the noise. He could ask. Figure everything out later, ask now.

That thought died when he came across two people kicking a man in the face, sending him flying a few feet. He freezes in his tracks, unable to look away as one of them comes closer and grabs the man by his shirt, wrenches him up. Blood spurts from his nose. The other stands back, hands on his hips and posture displaying obvious arrogance.

"Where's the money, asshole?" the one holding the man says.

"I-I said I would get-"

"No. Time's up."

This was dangerous. Law backs up, but his footsteps catch the attention of the other, who turns to look at him. Law freezes again. The guy glares at him, then scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hey, kid, you've sure put yourself in a bad position."

His blood freezes. What did that mean? They weren't telling him to scram, so. So-!

The other one whips around, fist raised to sock the man in the face. "Shit. We're not supposed to have any witnesses."

"I know." He squints. "Wait. Is that an Abra?"

Law's arms move tighter around Abra's body. He doesn't reply.

"He has a pokemon?" The other one drops their hold on the man, who slumps to the ground. They walk over to them, eyeing Law. "He doesn't look that old."

No. No no no no no. They were going to find out. They were going to take Abra away. He couldn't -couldn't let that happen! His breath catches, and he moves back another step. One of them whips out a pokeball and releases a Golbat.

"Don't try anything, kid," he says.

Okay. So this was happening. This was actually happening. He'd literally put himself in the worst position possible. He had to keep Abra safe. He wouldn't let them take his pokemon from him. And he had to keep them alive, somehow. He couldn't just teleport away and expect them not to follow. He was running out of options. The Golbat lets out a screech and he flinches, but also his will resolves. This was his chance. It wasn't perfect, but it was his only option, so he resides himself.

He squares his shoulders. "I need money," he barks.

The two startle, caught off-guard by his statement. But a moment later they're laughing at him.

"I'll do anything," Law tells them. "Odd jobs, things nobody else wants to do. I just need. The money."

Their demeanors turn a little more serious as they see his conviction.

* * *

Doflamingo admires that conviction of his.

"Anything, huh?" He grins, edges of his lips pulled wide. Law shuffles on his feet, intimidated, but doesn't back down. He nods his head and Doflamingo throws back his head, laughs.

Law wishes he could see his eyes, but the shades he wore hid them from view. He stands to full height and easily towers several feet over Law. Intimidating is too weak a word.

"How old are you, kid?"

Law swallows. "Ten."

"Hmmm." Doflamingo shakes his head. "That's no good. The minimum age to be a trainer in Alola is eleven."

Law tenses up, clutching Abra tighter to his form. So it wasn't even a matter of securing a trainer license anymore -it was now breaking the law that he had a pokemon. He takes a step back, wary. Would they take Abra from him?

But Doflamingo holds up a hand. "Wait, I won't tell anyone." Law relaxes, but he's not done. "That is, on a condition. You do anything for the Family, no questions asked. You do this, and I won't tell a soul you have a pokemon."

Now he really didn't have a choice.

It was always raining in Po town.

The heat he'd experienced so far in Alola didn't penetrate here, so more often than not he throws on his jacket. Po town was interesting like that. He couldn't really call it a town, either. No one lived there but the Family. The old, traditional buildings were in bad shape, and in general, everything was rundown. There were high stone walls surrounding them on all sides. Sometimes, when Law could spare a moment, he thought about what they were supposed to be keeping out.

The family, as it were, are the bad people Law completely expected them to be. They terrorized the citizens of Alola like some organized gang, and the incident he'd first been witness to had to be the most tame he's seen.

"There's more to us than that," Fai tells him, tossing her ebony locks over her shoulder. She was younger than him, but she'd been with the Family longer. She knew the ins and outs that Law wasn't really interested in learning. He didn't want to be a part. He just needed to keep Abra and himself alive.

But she was right, and Law found out not long after. Between jobs he'd go on around the island, he picks up on snatches of conversation. About the scientist, Caesar, and his experimentations that were sponsored by the Family. About the pokemon trafficking that was the real reason money was never an issue. The Family did more than just pick on civilians. They were a full-blown crime syndicate.

Doflamingo is not easy on him. He sends him out on all sorts of jobs, with all sorts of people. One time Law refuses, and he's sent to the Solitary Room. It's a brick ten by ten with zero light and zero sound, and he can only curl up in the corner and listen to his own breathing for hours on end. One time Law refuses, but it's an important task, and Doflamingo won't take no for an answer.

So he calls out his Ariados, who Law recognizes as a pokemon he'd seen outside Malie, and has it attach strings to Law's body. Law can't control his limbs, and he ends up doing the job not of his own free will.

Law stops refusing when Doflamingo threatens to tell authorities about Abra. He grows to do any sort of job asked of him, if only to keep them both safe.

When Law turns eleven, he's gifted a trainer's license by Doflamingo. It's signed by the kahuna of Ula'ula, Rocinante.

Since he's officially a trainer, he gets forced into doing jobs that require pokemon battle. Except, there's a problem with that, because Abra isn't any good at fighting. Life becomes more difficult when all Abra wants to do is run away, and Law can't force himself to bring his partner to do otherwise.

But Doflamingo can. He puts Law in training sessions to overcome this weakness, and it becomes rigorous. Abra eventually learns a couple attacks, but for every time he uses teleport, Doflamingo's Volcarona flies over them both, showering them in sticky embers that leave marks on Law's skin.

Fai and Buffalo, another kid with the Family, ask about Law's other marks one day. Law hesitates, but eventually explains the discolored patches were from negligence from a mining company back home. He explains about the river and the poison, and that the patches were likely to never go away.

That's why he chose Alola to run to, after everything had happened. It was a smaller region, with no big companies, no harmful industrialization, and no corporations that didn't care about anything but their success.

The sky swells outside of Po town in a way Law has never experienced from beyond its walls before. By the time he and Abra have made it to the rocky pathway branching out from route 17, it's already raining pretty hard. It's cold enough to make it uncomfortable, and Law lets Abra curl against his chest from inside his jacket. His palms ache by the time he scales up a section of the rock, both from the effort and the texture. He huffs out a breath and stumbles to his feet, moving further towards the looming walls.

It happens as they're scaling down: A section of the rock wall breaks, Law losing his handhold, and he falls backwards with a huff of breath, eyes widening. Abra glows, about to teleport, and Law squeezes him, fear choking him as all the scuff marks he'd endured from training the other day begin to ache. "No, stop!" he cries out, the terror evident in his tone.

The next moment, they're colliding with something soft and white, stealing both their breaths on impact. Law looks over the side to see them sailing smoothly down to the ground. When they land, he grabs Abra in a hug, clutching his pokemon both in relief and fright. "S-sorry," he apologizes, because he recognizes that teleporting would have been useful but another part of his mind can't help but be wary at what using the move could cost him.

He turns to thank the pokemon, but all that comes out is a small noise of surprise. He recognizes this pokemon, it was a native one of Sinnoh. "Togekiss," he breathes, eyes wide in wonder.

"Oh? This one is unusual for Alola. I'm surprised you're able to recognize it."

Law moves to face the man that spoke as he comes over and pats Togekiss on the head. The pokemon croons in appreciation, and the man shakes water from his head. He's very tall, with an odd hat and a strange smile. "Thank you for saving them," he says to the Togekiss, who croons again.

Law bites on his lip, hesitating. "Uh . . thank you," he mumbles, just loud enough to hear over the rain, and the two turn towards him.

Togekiss is returned to a pokeball and the man crouches down in front of Law, smiling at him. "It's dangerous to scale the rocks in this weather. What's a kid like you doing so close to Po town anyhow? It's been off-limits to the islanders for a long time now."

Law blinks, a bit stunned by this. Off-limits . . ? "No," he tells him, shaking his head. "That can't be right, I've been living there for a while." He squints, taking in the man's appearance in closer proximity. "Who are you?"

He gets a blank stare in return, and it's a moment of silence before the other speaks. "I'm the island kahuna, Rocinante."

Oh! He'd heard that name before. Though he couldn't rem- . . no, it was! The signature on his trainer card. It should be, at least. Law fumbles in his pockets, searching until he can pull the card out and check. Yep, plain as day. That-

He looks up as a shadow crosses over the card. Rocinante was leaned over to look at it, and hums at the sight. "I remember signing that," he says. "Law Trafalgar-Water . . ." He sighs, glances back up to Law. "Are you one of my brother's, then?"

Law frowns. What was he-? "No," he grunts. "I work for Doflamingo!"

Rocinante's smile turns sad at his answer. He moves to his feet and nods to the walls before them. "I have business in Po town. Let's go together, okay?"

"Fine," Law huffs, shuffling to a stand.

There are a few things Law notices upon venturing into the mansion with Rocinante. One is that he's around the same height as Doflamingo, and as he shrugs off the red hat to wring it out without a care onto the flooring, has the same blonde hair as well. When Doflamingo himself comes into the foyer, Law can further see the resemblance.

"Oh good, you're here." Doflamingo turns when he spots him as well, nodding to him. In his next sentence he basically confirms what Law had just guessed. "Law, this is Corazon, my brother."

Law moves his eyes to the kahuna again and finds the blonde peering down at him, a soft smile with an unidentifiable emotion leading it. He nods his head and walks further into the room, shaking out his head before placing the cap back on.

"Corazon is the reason the Family can operate in Po town without resistance," Doflamingo explains to him. "Since he's the island kahuna, he can ward off certain areas." He shrugs. "It helps that there's already history for Po town, sure."

Law really didn't know much about kahunas. He'd been given a brief introduction about the likes of trial captains and kahunas and island challenges, but since it didn't really apply, he'd elected to ignore it. All he really retained was that it was the Alolan way of a league challenge, sort of. He had no idea kahunas had such authority over the islands, though. That was definitely news. He looks to Corazon in a new light.

"Hey, I just had a good idea!" Doflamingo snaps his fingers, nodding to Corazon. "Stay a couple days. You can train Law."

Corazon stops in his trek across the room to meet his brother. "What?"

"Yeah, the kid needs to learn how to battle." Doflamingo waves him off. "You can spare some time. I have more important things to do right now."

Corazon's shoulders slump, but he doesn't refuse. "Alright."

"Good! Hey Law, change out of those wet clothes. You're dripping on the floor." He beckons Corazon forward, already turning to the door. His voice fades as he wanders through it, out of Law's scope of hearing. "So, about . . ."

This training is different.

Even with Doflamingo out checking up on Caesar's experiments, Law was still uneasy in the beginning. It didn't matter that it was just Corazon, just the man who saved him earlier that day. These sessions had already been ingrained into him, already had established emotions associated with them, and they didn't change just because the instructor differed.

But it was different. It was a good different, too.

Corazon smiled at him. A lot. He smiled as Law sent out Abra and fumbled the pokeball with putting it back up, hands shaking. He smiled when things didn't go according to plan. He smiled when Law did something good. His smile made Law feel more at ease. It wasn't malicious at all, it was gentle.

"Altaria, let's use mist," Corazon calls, and his pokemon beats the air with her wings, and the moisture in the room gathered into a visible form. Law blinks, moving his head side to side. The mist was thick, and he could no longer see Abra. Altaria must have landed again, because he can't hear the beating of her wings, either.

"How are you going to attack when you can't see, Law?" Corazon asks, voice sounding from across the field.

Law doesn't have an answer. He'd have Abra move to the edge, but he couldn't make him out, and he wouldn't let him teleport there. That would . . not be good. He couldn't do that.

"Disarming voice!" Corazon calls, and Altaria shoots out a soundwave that cuts the mist and rams directly into Abra, who can't move away in time. Abra goes flying, sprawled out on the field, and it takes several moments for him to twitch again, climb to his feet.

Law's breath catches. "U-Use confusion!" he tells his pokemon. "While you can see it, hurry!"

But confusion was a move they were still working on, and Abra is far from perfect with it. Altaria easily dodges with a twirl in the air, but the attack fails before it reaches the flying-type anyways. Law bites down on his lip, trying to think.

"Law!" Corazon speaks up, gaining his attention. He smiles once he has Law's eye. "An Abra's speciality is reading minds. That's how they know when to teleport away from danger. Things like fog and mist that obstruct vision won't affect them." He motions with a hand and Altaria lands. "Let's end with that for today."

Law shuffles over to Abra, bending down to inspect his pokemon's wounds. The sound of footsteps makes him look up, and he sees Corazon release a pokemon from a few feet away. When the light fades, he sees a pokemon he's never seen before, white and blue and pink, with ribbons that immediately go to curl around their trainer's wrist.

Corazon nods to him. "Law, this is Sylveon." He gestures to Abra and Sylveon pads over. "She's going to heal Abra for you, okay?"

Law's eyes widen. This was definitely different. Sylveon mewls at him, nodding, then reaches out her ribbons to settle on Abra. After a moment, the space around them glows, and Abra visibly relaxes.

"Thank you," Law says to Sylveon, after she's stepped back. She mews again, setting one of the ribbons on his head.

"Abra has another specialty that you've been neglecting," Corazon says, coming to sit beside him. Law looks over. "Teleportation."

His blood freezes. "I-I can't," he stammers.

Corazon tips his head. "Why?" He's obviously confused, but Law doesn't know how to explain it.

"Doflamingo . ." He turns away. "He says I shouldn't. He says I should fight."

Corazon is silent for a long moment. Abra moves over to him and Law returns him to the pokeball, cupping the device in both hands.

"Teleporting doesn't have to be for running away," Corazon finally answers. "You can use it to sneak up on your opponents, for example. And when you can't dodge an attack in time. You . . don't have to be afraid to use it, Law." He frowns. "I'm so sorry you're afraid."

"Yeah," he whispers. "I am too."

Corazon spends a few days in Po town, and Law trains with him whenever he can get away with it. Abra still slept most of the day, but when he was awake, he was battling.

Where Doflamingo expected Law to figure out everything for himself, Corazon helps him improve, offering advice whenever necessary. He becomes more relaxed around the kahuna, and more daring.

"Altaria, use dragonbreath," Corazon orders. Altaria is in the air already, and opens her mouth to release a shockwave. Law is one step ahead.

"Abra, teleport away!" he calls, watching as his pokemon zips to the other end of the field, away from the damage. "Now, up!"

Abra teleports once more, appearing to the side of Altaria's head. The dragon squawks in surprise.

"Scratch it!" Law says, and Abra does just that, nicking her on the side of the head. Altaria moves back, whining in distress. From the ground, Corazon makes a noise of approval.

Abra drops back to the ground and Altaria flutters lower.

"Nice," Corazon says. "Let's see how you handle this." He smirks. "Altaria, sing!"

He doesn't handle it. Abra falls asleep, and that was that. Battle over. Law slumps his shoulders, wanting to do more. But! They had landed a hit, something that hadn't happened yet.

Corazon releases Sylveon and she trots over to the sleeping Abra. Law meets them and settles down on the ground to watch. When she's done, Sylveon steps to Law's side and Abra moves, slowly waking up. Law reaches out and pets her head, and Sylveon mews in appreciation.

The training scars were starting to fade from his skin. He was gaining confidence. Abra was looking livelier, healthier.

One day, he asks Corazon to explain what a kahuna was.

"Hmm. Well, I suppose the kahunas wouldn't be around without the island challenge." He glances over at Law. "Do you know what that is?"

Law really didn't know much, so he just shakes his head.

"It's like . . a rite of passage, here in Alola. The closest I can compare it to is a league challenge, but it's not the same. It consists of trials that trial captains monitor, but they're not like gym battles. You complete a task in a certain area of the island, and after completing it, you're challenged by a totem pokemon. After completing both, you move on to the next trial until you've finished all on the island. And then you get to challenge the grand trial of the island, which is a battle with the kahuna."

"How many islands?" Law asks.

"Four! If you defeat all the grand trials, you have one final task. It's a battle with all four of the kahunas in a row, and you have to scale Mount Lanakila to challenge them." Corazon pauses. "Well, us."

"That sounds amazing," Law breathes. And it did. It was different from gym battles and league competitions, something native to Alola. It sounded really fun, too! "So how did you get to be a kahuna?"

"Ah, I was chosen." He looks away, out one of the windows. It was raining, like always, and the water hit the glass softly, ran down the side. "When you're an Alolan native, it . . happens. You can't refuse it, either. I'll be a kahuna until I die." He laughs. "Luckily, I like the job."

They talk a little more about aspects of the island challenge, and as time goes on, Corazon begins to notice the glow in Law's eyes, the wonder housed there. An idea forms, and after spending a few days with the boy, he couldn't think of anything else.

"Law . . Would you like to try the island challenge?" Corazon asks. Law's expression immediately turns pensive, wary. He knows exactly why, too. "What if I could convince Doffy?"

There. Law's look morphs, turns a little more hopeful. "Then-" He swallows. "I would like that."

Doflamingo comes back late into the evening, and Corazon presents his case. Law would participate in an island challenge to get stronger. That was the main purpose, but it would also make sure me knew Alola better, in terms of customs and locations. He promises to even secure Law a new pokemon, which sold the deal for Doflamingo.

Corazon and Law plan to sail out to Melemele early the next day. Before they leave, though, Doflamingo pulls Law aside.

"Remember, Law. You're a part of the family now," Doflamingo tells him. Law can't distinguish his expression in the dim light, but the tone of his words puts him on edge. His next words make Law's blood freeze.

"You belong to me."

Their ferry leaves before the sun has completely risen. Law chooses to sit out on the deck, and Corazon follows him, leaning against the rails. He takes out a pokeball and releases a pokemon Law has never seen before. "Cacturne," he tells him, nodding to the pokemon as it stretched out. "He's nocturnal, and I have a long day ahead, so letting him out now is best."

Law admires the pokemon as he shuffles around on the deck. "You said . . that kahunas have a speciality."

Corazon's head is leaned back against the railing. His eyes are closed, but he blinks them open to acknowledge Law. "Yeah."

"What kind of trainer are you?"

"I train flying types." He smiles, closes his eyes again. "I have a few that aren't, sure, but when battling island challengers, I use my flying type pokemon."

Law hums. "I still like Sylvie the best."

Corazon laughs, sits up from the railing. The sun was out enough for Cacturne to be uncomfortable, so he returns him to his pokeball. "I'm sure Sylveon would appreciate that."

He picks Popplio out from the three pokemon he's presented with. Litten looked really cool, and Rowlet would be useful, being a flying type. But it doesn't take much to discover he has a soft spot for the Popplio, and when presented with a choice, the pokemon chose him back.

Law liked that custom, too. Choosing each other.

"You picked good," Corazon tells him. "Water types are handy to have in Alola." Law nods, looks down at his new pokeball. His new partner.

They venture into the city, Hau'oli, and Corazon buys him a brand new traveling pack. Law is amazed, and excited, and thanks him a bunch. They spend a bit of time filling it with supplies, making sure he had everything he would need.

But all things must come to an end, and they're on the docks soon enough, Corazon having to head back. Law tries to be cheerful, he's taking on this challenge, after all! He's having an adventure. But it was hard. He was going to miss Cora.

A hand lands on his head, and Law looks up to meet Corazon's gaze.

"Tell you what," the kahuna says. "If you make it to Ula'ula, I'll have a gift for you."

Law's eyes widen. He nods fervently, determined now. "I'll make it! Promise!"

Corazon just laughs. "Good. Let me give you my number, okay? Call me sometime, check in. I'll always listen. If you can't figure something out yourself, I'll try and help as best I can."

"Okay!" Yes, this would be good. "Alright!" Really good.

Corazon's expression turns just a bit serious, and he suddenly crouches down, takes Law by his shoulders. "One more thing, okay? Alola has guardians over each of the islands. You shouldn't mess with them. The first trial on Melemele takes place on sacred ground to the guardian, so be careful, alright?" He waits for Law's nod before continuing. "Po town has history with Ula'ula's guardian, Tapu Bulu. The reason none of the islanders come close to it is because I crafted a story that anyone who stepped on site would be attacked by it. Tapu Bulu loathes Po town, that's common knowledge, so the islanders keep away out of fear." He releases Law. "I don't want to scare you. Just . . be careful, alright?"

"I will," Law promises. He hesitates a moment, then reaches up and wraps Corazon in a hug. After a moment, the kahuna reciprocates. "Thank you, Cora! Thank you for giving me this chance."

"I'll see you soon, Law." Corazon smiles at him. "You'll do great." The boat horn sounds, signaling for last passengers, and Corazon boards, waving to Law.

The trials on Melemele are interesting. He takes on pokemon in a cavern, battles with a giant Gumshoos, and then takes on the island kahuna, only barely managing to win with Popplio's help. The entire time he's wandering the island, he feels eyes on him, watching him. The trial captain pays for his ferry, and he departs to Akala with a token as his victory symbol.

He charges through Akala, having a blast and earning more tokens with every step. There's a trial in a deep forest on the island's north side, and at the end he battles with a Lurantis thrice the size of himself! He scales a volcano and Abra evolves into Kadabra in the battle with the totem pokemon. Law is overjoyed, and together, they defeat the island kahuna.

Law asks about the other side of the southern half of Akala after the battle, and the kahuna tells him that was where Tapu Lele, Akala's guardian, rested. They tell him it was best to avoid that area, and heeding Corazon's warning, it's the only place on the island Law doesn't explore.

He chooses instead to go back to Heahea, but not long after arriving, he encounters members of the Family. They're just wandering around, not causing trouble, but Law still freaks out and hides, avoiding their gazes. He chides himself, saying he wasn't in any harm from them now, but . . was he really so sure? And did he want to be associated with them?

He calls Corazon later that day, nestled in his room in the pokemon center, and tells him of his victory on Akala.

"That's great, Law!" Corazon exclaims. "The next island is Ula'ula, then!"

"Really?" Law says, excited, but then Corazon sighs over the speaker, and he quiets back down. "Wh-What is it?"

"I have something important I need you to take care of."

He swallows. That shift in tone wasn't sitting well with him. "What?"

"Caesar needs something for an experiment of his. It's a type of crystal that's only found on Poni, deep in the caverns of the canyon. Doffy . . wants you to go pick it up."

Oh. Law is at a loss of words, so he echoes the thought aloud. "Oh."

"I'm so excited to see you again, Law," Corazon continues. "But this is something you have to do."

"Well . ." Law breathes out, works hard to perk up, cheer his tone. "Then I'll just do it in a hurry! It'll be okay!"

"That's the spirit. While you're there, there's a trial and a kahuna on Poni. Have fun and enjoy yourself, okay? We'll make Ula'ula the last island on your challenge."

"Okay! I'll see you soon, Cora!"

Law heads to Poni through a local ferrying service. He was surprised to find out regular ferries didn't travel to the island, and that it was rather isolated, despite having a trial there. It was more costly than the usual ferry, but he manages to just pay for it by using money he'd obtained by selling pearls he'd find on the beach. It had become a pastime of Popplio's to search for them in the shallows of the ocean, and they sold for a good price.

Along the way, the islander that takes him explains that Poni didn't have a ferry terminal like the other islands, so there was no place for the big ships to dock. That was the main reason why getting to the island was so tricky.

Poni is different in more than that, though. Upon arriving, Law can immediately tell the island's culture is unlike any others he'd seen on the islands of Alola. It seemed almost olden, like a civilization long lost had lived there. The wilds are thick and untouched, and when he does come across buildings, they're crumbled stucco, some barely having ceilings. Definitely . . unusual.

The trial captain is missing, the residents say. Not very alarming, it was actually common that she would be gone long periods of time to paint around the island. She could be anywhere, though, which makes Law frustrated. They insist the trial can be taken up without her present, though. They even offer Law directions to the canyon, and he settles down, remembers Corazon's words. He should try and enjoy this. It would all work out.

The canyon, like the name implies, is vast. When he's not inside the cavern, he's outside under the sun, so much hotter here than he'd previously experienced. Every chance he gets, he fills up his container with water from pools collected all over the canyon. He sees a lot of pokemon he can recognize, like Golbat and Dugtrio, Machoke and Murkrow. But there are also forms he can't quite tell, like the hulking rock mass with red claws. Or the canine with the stone collar and long, piercing howl.

Deep into the canyon, he hikes up to a path along a winding tree branch, big enough to walk comfortably on, and enters into a small opening. It leads to a wider path in the rock, and at the end stood a pedestal.

Law breathes out a sigh of relief. He'd worked so hard to make it this far. Kadabra had fought off so many wild pokemon, and Popplio had also put in effort. This must be it. Just making it here was the trial, right? Surely?

He moves forward through the pathway, eyes fixed on the pedestal. He doesn't notice the shadows creeping along the walls until two forms are dropping down in front of him, making him stumble back.

They were dragons. He could tell that much. One was smaller, with a yellow-scaled body and a heart-shaped nose that reminds him of Corazon. It's pink, a different color than the bigger dragon's yellow, and who Law assumes is the evolved form. They let out growls and Law understand their intent, taking out Popplio's pokeball. Making it here wasn't the trial. Fighting these two was.

He has Popplio start with disarming voice, knowing a fairy attack should do damage. But the bigger dragon uses protect to shield the both of them, completely blocking the move. Then the little one comes around and rams into popplio with a headbutt, sending her sprawling across the canyon floor.

After making sure she was alright, Law orders an aqua jet. Popplio lands a hit on the smaller dragon before a counter can be made, the attack too fast to follow. As she lands where the smaller dragon once stood, having been knocked away, the bigger one uses screech, and she huddles down, covering her ears. Law winces as well, the noise at a low enough frequency for him to hear and be uncomfortable with.

He has Popplio use disarming voice again, on the smaller one still further away, and the attack hits it, but seems to do little damage. It's body was shining, and Law realizes it activated iron defense to protect itself.

Before he can think to counter, the bigger dragon uses sky uppercut against Popplio, knocking her back into the wall. She shakes it off, still obviously injured but raring to go, and Law calls for an icy wind. It rams into both the dragons, causing noticeable damage, and Law points this out, praising her. The little one runs forward and swings its tail in a dragon tail attack, and Popplio dodges and counters with pound, slamming it into the ground and rendering it unable to battle.

The bigger dragon lets out a roar and charges forward as well, and Law has Popplio fire off another disarming voice that finishes it off. "Yes!" Law calls out, watching as the last dragon fell. He rushes up to popplio, crouching down beside her. "Way to go! You were so amazing!"

Popplio replies with enthusiasm, and then she starts glowing. Law's eyes widen, and he moves back before he recognizes what's going on. Then he gasps, and the light fades, and Popplio has evolved into Brionne.

"That's amazing!" Law exclaims, reaching out and pulling her into a hug. Brionne reciprocates, overjoyed, and they take a moment to celebrate. Then they stand and continue towards the pedestal.

On it was what he expected: A token. But he was foolish before to think he was done so early. There was always a battle with a totem pokemon at the end, and he didn't believe either of the dragons was it. When a great shadow looms over him, cutting off the light from reflecting off the token, Law knows he's correct.

He looks up and is met with the sight of a giant dragon. It wore a crown of scales, had a barbed tail, and Law could barely believe it fit in the space where the pedestal sat. Brionne perks up from his feet, and he steps away from the token, preparing for battle.

This part of the trial is longer than usual, the fight hard. Brionne works hard though, and the winning shot happens with a new move. She generates a ball of light and hurls it at the totem pokemon, and Law can tell it was a new fairy-type move by the damage it caused, knocking the dragon out.

As Law is taking the token to symbolize his victory, he spies the small pink and yellow dragon from earlier watching him. He pockets the token, turns to face it, then after a moment to think on it, pulls off his pack and crouches on the ground, digging through for a berry. Once he finds a good one, he offers it to the dragon, who comes forward to eat it happily.

The dragon . . . it really did remind him of Corazon. "You should come with me," he says, not fully realizing what he's saying. When it processes, he tries to take it back, because surely this pokemon has to stay here as part of the trial. But the dragon is already agreeing, and Law can't bring himself to refuse a new team member.

As he's leaving the canyon, he takes a different route from before, one than branches further down, deep underground. The quiet is unnerving here, no pokemon to make noise, and only the sound of dripping water to be heard. He'd been described the crystal he had to gather for Doflamingo, so it was easy to recognize a cluster. Everything about this made him uneasy, though, so he grabs some and leaves the area in a hurry.

Outside Poni Canyon, the island's kahuna introduces herself to Law. He presents her his token and she praises him for his victory and offers to heal his team. She mentions the dragon being unusual, and Law tells her the story he'd just experienced.

"It's name is Jangmo-o," she informs him. "These pokemon tend to favor isolation, so they are tough to train."

But Law is willing to put forth the effort. And when he challenges her to a battle for her grand trial, it's thanks to Jangmo-o that he ends up winning, putting an end to the struggling battle. He'd conquered all the trials of three islands so far.

There was only Ula'ula left.

Landing at Malie again invokes a different feeling in Law.

He was no longer the foreign boy who was hiding a pokemon. He was no longer looking for a new home, for a place to belong to. He wasn't here with the feeling of hope or wonder, of discovering something new.

The ferry terminal is the same sort of busy he remembers, and he hurries out of the building, back to the sunny skies and crisp sea breeze. This time, Law arrives at Malie feeling excited. The anticipation is almost too much, and he ends up finding a bench on the docks and settles down his pack next to him, pulling out his communicator to dial Corazon's number.

"Cora!" Law says excitedly as the dial picks up, not letting the other speak. "I'm here, I'm in Malie! I made it!"

"Law! That's great, I'm so-"

"Law? That's Law on the line?"

There's a fumbling in the background, and Doflamingo's voice takes over the speaker. "Law. Did you get the substance on poni?"

Law gulps, tensing. Of course. Of course he had to be with Doflamingo. "Y-Yeah, I did," he answers.

"Good. I'm sending Corazon to retrieve it now."

There's another shuffling, muffled noise, and then Corazon is back on the line. "Hey. Meet me at Malie Garden, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll be there soon." The line goes dead after that, and Law waits a moment before shoving the communicator back into his bag. He was trying not to let the interaction dampen his spirits, but they did feel a bit trodden on.

"Uh, excuse me!" He perks up, stopping a passing sailor. "Do you know where Malie Garden is?"

"Oh yes." He turns, points further inland, to a tower he can make out behind the terminal. "It's just inside the city, can't miss it." He tips his hat to Law as he starts moving again. "Enjoy your time here! Alola!"

"Alola," Law echoes, rising to his feet. After thinking for a moment, he throws on his pack and heads into the city proper. It would take a little bit for Corazon to get here, so he could wander around.

The buildings are the same architecture that he remembers, different from anything he's seen since in the region. So much had changed, too. Abra was a Kadabra, and officially his partner. He had two other pokemon under his belt. He'd gotten involved in the Family and met Corazon, and then he'd taken part in the island challenge and had the time of his life.

Really, though. Taking part in the trials and exploring the different islands of Alola has been the most fun he's had in a long time, at least since before Lami got sick.

He buys a snack and munches on it while wandering, looking at the different shops. It's not until he's in front of a clothing store that he realizes he was looking for something specific, something to show just how much he had changed. He spends a minute rooting through his pockets and counting change, and then finally dips into the store, deciding he had enough money for a new outfit.

The library looms in the distance, and once more Law thinks about investigating. But it was already late, and he didn't want to keep Corazon waiting, so with a final look he turns around and heads back to the gates of the Garden.

Malie Garden was gorgeous.

He enters and his breath catches upon seeing the ornate bridge straight ahead, golden decor lining the black side panels. The area was huge, covered in grass and a lake that curved oddly around the land. There were more trees Law didn't recognize, like the ones he'd seen on the outskirts of the city. To the far right was a tall tower, and to the left was a large plateau. Towards the center of the Garden, he could make out a small building, the architecture once again unique to the area.

"Law!" A voice calls his name, dragging it out until he turns around, and then he's swung off his feet. Law lets out a little shout in surprise, then reaches up a hand to struggle. It lands in soft blonde curls, and then Corazon lifts his head so Law can make out his grinning face. He gasps.

"Cora!" Then he pouts. "Don't do that!"

Corazon just laughs. "Sorry, sorry." He sets Law back down. "I got a little excited. Look at you, though! You look so grown up!"

"It hasn't been that long," Law mutters.

"And look at your new clothes!" Corazon continues, ignoring him. "You picked well. Hey, you want some tea? I'll pay."

"From where?"

He jabs a finger towards the small building further in. "The tea shop, of course!"

The tea is good, and served in little plastic cups that they take further in to the garden, Corazon leading them through the taller grass.

"Why are we going back here?" Law asks, and Corazon turns around to press a finger to his lips.

They go further to the wall, almost past the tower, and then Corazon is setting Law down in the underbrush, and lowering himself down so they're both concealed. Law's brows furrow at the strange behavior, and he opens his mouth to ask again when the sound of a pokeball opening cuts him off.

Sylveon pops out of her ball and Law gasps. "Sylvie!" he says, delighted, and the pokemon mews back before jumping into his outstretched arms. He laughs and she reaches up to rub her cheek to his, purring. It's another minute before they settle down, and when Law turns back to Corazon, he gasps.

The kahuna has a smile on his face and a pokemon egg in his hands.

"This is an Eevee egg," he explains. "It's from Sylveon. I want you to have it."

His mouth falls open.

"You have to take good care of it, and eventually, it'll hatch. Law, I'm so proud of you. This is my gift to you, for making it this far." He holds the egg out and Law takes it, wrapping his arms around it.

Then, he breaks down, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Yeah!" he chokes out. "I'll take good care of it! I promise, Cora!" He reaches out to hug the kahuna, careful of the egg, and they stay like that for a long moment.

When they pull back, the smile wanes from Corazon's face, and he reaches out to grasp Law's shoulders. "Did you get the ingredient for Caesar?"

"Oh. Yeah." He shuffles his arms and pulls his pack off his shoulders, then roots around until he pulls out the crystal.

Sylveon, who's still in his lap, reaches her head up and sniffs at it. She recoils after a second, much to Law's surprise.

Corazon gently takes the crystal from him and puts it in a sack, wrapping it tightly in the paper and sliding it out of view. Then he reaches out, pulls Law closer. He glances around for a second, and once he sees they're clear, looks back to Law. "I have something to tell you," he whispers.

Law is wary, but he nods.

"Doffy hired a scientist, Caesar Clown, because he wants to recreate the creator pokemon, Arceus." His voice is hard, quiet. "That's-"

"I know Arceus," Law interrupts. Corazon looks at him oddly, so he elaborates. "From stories back home."

And understanding dawns on his face. "You're from . ." He shakes his head. "Well, that's less explaining. The way they decided to go about realizing that was through the creation of artificial pokemon." Law screws up his face and he nods. "Yes, it's as awful as it sounds. Three test subjects were created. Along with them was a system that would allow them to shift between all eighteen types, coded RKS. Because of this they were named Type:Full. But the pokemon rejected the RKS system and grew wild, and eventually they had to be masked and cryogenically frozen." Corazon sighs. "What you gathered for Doffy . . . it might be the breakthrough substance to make them obedient."

"W-Why are you telling me this?" Law asks, voice quiet. In response, Corazon smiles sadly.

"Law. Are you afraid of Doflamingo?"

He hesitates, but not for long, nodding a yes. His arms go from wrapped around Sylveon to wrapping around each other, feeling along the skin and the wounds he used to have there daily. Corazon sighs and reaches out, pulls Law closer into a hug.

"I won't let the Family hurt you anymore," he mumbles. "I'm going to put a stop to all that they're doing."

"How, though?"

"I'm an Interpol member." He pulls back and Law looks up, confused. "International Police. I've been working undercover for a while now in the Family." He takes a deep breath, in and out. "I'm not going to give them the crystal, Law. But if you're asked, you don't know a thing. You've handed the substance to me like you were supposed to. You can't be blamed for what's to come." He narrows his eyes. "But I do need you to do something for me."

Sylveon hops out of his arms and Law shivers. "What?"

"You have to go back and take one of the experiments. One of the Type:Nulls. Once you go back to Po town stronger, Doffy will take note of your worth. He'll show off the experiments to you to prove this. That's your chance. Once you have access, you need to steal a Type:Null and leave the island."

"Wh-What?" Law shuffles back. "I thought they were called Type:Full! And what about the island challenge?"

Corazon shakes his head. "After they were frozen, they were renamed to show they couldn't multi-type. You need to forget about the island challenge for now. Once the Family is taken care of, once it's safe to come back to Ula'ula, I'll let you know. You can come complete the trials then, and battle the kahuna." He winks. "Which would be me."

Corazon reaches out, grasps Law's hands. "I promise you, we'll have our battle once everything is taken care of. I wish it could be sooner, but by not giving the crystal to Doffy, everything is due to launch into action."

"Why do I need to be the one to get the pokemon, though? If the Family's going to fall anyways, won't the police take them?"

"It's . . more complicated than that." Corazon sighs. "Listen: I'm having you do this for both your sakes. Type:Null is artificially created, but -it's still living! It's still a pokemon. And it deserves a chance at life like any other pokemon. The mask tames its wild nature, but I have a feeling it can be tamed naturally, too. Maybe one day, it won't need the mask. I think, with you as its trainer, it's definitely a possibility. Wouldn't you like to think so?"

Law's breath was held, but he releases it now in a rush. "That's a big task."

"I believe in you. If you go straight west from Malie, you'll hit Po town. You'll have to cross over the foothills of Mount Hokulani to reach it, but you can do it -you're strong, Law."

"Where are you going?"

"There's a safehouse at the southwestern end of Ula'ula. I'm due to meet a trial captain there soon, so I'll be there. If Doffy asks you, tell him I'm on important kahuna business, and then I'll be at Po town as soon as I can. Okay?"

"Okay." Law breathes out. "Okay."

When they reach the gates of the Garden, the air is tense. They'd tossed their tea cups earlier, and Corazon had returned Sylveon to her pokeball. The Eevee egg is nestled in Law's arms. Corazon had tried to get Law to talk about his travels, but he declined, telling him it could wait until after everything with the Family was over.

"Cora . ." Law begins, pausing right outside the gates. "Why . . do you train flying types?"

Corazon smiles, and it's a little sad. "It's cheesy, but. I want to be free."

A lump rises in Law's throat. He forces it back down, tries to keep the tears from falling again. "I do too! I want to be free too."

Corazon crouches down, and his smile keeps Law from breaking down. "I know. It'll happen soon." He pulls Law into another hug. "I love you, okay?"

"I love you too! And I'll take good care of the egg, promise!"

Law watches Corazon's back as he leaves, riding away on Togekiss. He doesn't like the feeling he's left with. One that tells him to keep watching, to remember the sight.

* * *

"What's with the egg?"

Law gulps and shifts said egg in his arms. "It was a gift. From Corazon."

Before him, Doflamingo snarls and turns his body, stalking off a few feet. "And where is Corazon?"

"Meeting a trial captain in the southwest part of the island. Something came up that he needed to take care of, as the kahuna."

Doflamingo turns to look at him, eyes sharp. Law holds his gaze, but inside, he's very nervous. He's repeated what Corazon had told him without hesitation, but was there something else that had given him away?

Finally, Doflamingo turns away, muttering in frustration, and law allows himself to relax. "Let me see your team," he says, and Law pulls out his three pokeballs.

He seems to be satisfied with Law's team, and they head to another room to have a battle. Law puts up a good fight, but Kadabra is at a disadvantage against Doflamingo's Banette. Brionne can't match up to Leavanny, and Jangmo-o falters against Honchkrow. But though Law doesn't win, Doflamingo seems satisfied enough.

"It seems the island challenge has done you good. Come with me, I want to show you something."

He leads Law further into the mansion, and then down, and he knows. This is it. The area below Po town they come to is the most clean and white and high-tech place Law has ever seen in his life. It certainly didn't match aboveground, with things in disarray and the constant rain hammering down.

"Caesar has been working on something as of late that is . . groundbreaking." Doflamingo leads him through the winding halls, talking all the while. "He's trying to recreate god, to put it simply."

Law reacts as though he's never heard this before, stopping his walk and letting his jaw drop. Doflamingo looks back, smirks, and beckons him forward again.

"Surprise, huh? The thing you grabbed at Poni will help tremendously. Let me show you our progress so far." They come to a stop in front of a door, and he leans over to key in a code. Law tips his head sideways to watch the numbers be punched in, and puts the code to memory. The door slides open and they walk in, but Law stops just inside.

There's a glass panel in front of them, and three beast-like creatures stood still -frozen- behind it. The front legs looked like that of a bug, while the rear legs were covered in purple scales. It had a fishtail on its backside and a fur collar on its front. The mask that covered its face was strange. It looked wooden, and had odd spikes near the neckline.

"Why . . do they have masks?" He asks. He knew what Corazon had told him, but being curious would help the act.

"They're wild beasts," Doflamingo answers. "The masks allow them to be tamed. Well, somewhat. We're hoping the crystals you gathered will help with that. That they'll follow every command." He steps closer, puts a hand on the glass. "Once Corazon gets back, we'll finally be getting somewhere with the project."

* * *

Law feels sick, that night. He's put in a room and lies down on a bed, but he doesn't sleep. The Type:Nulls -they scared him. He couldn't imagine himself training one. But Corazon was counting on him, so somehow, he had to convince himself to do it.

Tomorrow. It had to be tomorrow.

* * *

The next night finds Law in the main room, various members of the Family moving about. He'd seen Fai a minute ago, though she had disappeared somewhere. He sees her again when Doflamingo enters, communicator near his ear, as most of the other members gather closer.

"What?" he barks. "What do you mean something came up?" He pauses for a moment, seething, and then puts the person on speaker. Corazon's voice fills the room.

"-can't go further than the Lake of Sunne."

"We don't have surveillance there!" Doflamingo howls. "Damnit, Corazon! If I'd known you getting me the crystals would be this troublesome, I would've never sent you. Meet me at the flower meadow instead, that's close enough to the lake."

" . . Right. I'll be there, Doffy."

Doflamingo ends the call and his head flies up. "I'm heading out. I want everyone to monitor the meadow, this is too suspicious."

Law never even knew there was surveillance. Was it on all the islands, or just Ula'ula? Was it just around Po town, or all over? He follows the rest of the Family into a monitor room, one he'd never seen before. The flower meadow they turn the screens to is one Law is familiar with, with red poppies blooming all over, surrounding grepa trees and a long, wooden bridge.

The volume gets turned up as Corazon and Doflamingo arrive relatively at the same time. It's a tense moment before Corazon returns Togekiss, and another two until Doflamingo follows, pulling out Honchkrow's pokeball.

Doflamingo holds out a hand. "Give it to me, Corazon."

But Corazon stands his ground. His fists clench. "No."

"No?" Doflamingo growls. "What do you mean-"

"I don't have it anymore." Corazon huffs out a sigh. "By now it's probably with Interpol. There's not much time left for Po town, either. It's due to be raided soon."

Noise floats around Law as a commotion erupts, but he's silent. Corazon was bluffing. If everything could be over so fast, there was no reason why Law had to leave. But Doflamingo takes it to heart, and Law watches as he screams out, calls Corazon a traitor, and then releases Honchkrow once again.

Law moves back until he's against the wall, breath caught until Corazon's Drapion was before him, shielding him from the attack. That was right. Corazon was a kahuna, he was strong! He wouldn't lose so easily.

But Doflamingo is strong too. And sometimes, anger becomes power. Law can only watch as Corazon is overwhelmed, as one by one, Drapion, Altaria, Swoobat, Cacturne, and finally, Togekiss, fall.

Once it's just Togekiss left, the flying-type on its last legs, Doflamingo pulls out a gun. Law is helpless, and he can't even bring himself to cover his eyes as he fires off, and one, two, three bullets ram into Corazon's chest. Tears stream down his cheeks as the sixth bullet knocks him off his feet, and Togekiss falls still as well, beaten down.

He has to stumble from the room, unable to watch any further, hands over his mouth to contain his distress. It's not until the commotion rises that he comes to terms with the situation. Everyone was gathered in one room. This was his chance.

So he darts off to the basement while the others were preoccupied. He enters the code into the keypad with shaky fingers, body trembling. Even his breathing echoes in the vacant space, and he has to bite down on his fist to keep from crying out.

Inside the room now, Law runs to the glass chamber and looks to the floor, where numbers were marked before each pokemon. The closest to him is number two, so he moves to the side where three pokeballs rest, right were Corazon said they would be, and picks out the number two one. Then he sprints back to the panel and opens it, at the same time reaching for a switch and lowering the lever until the cryogenics for the one he wanted was deactivated.

The Type:Null immediately stirs, and it's grey eyes turn to look at law, peeking out from the crack in its mask. He lets out a squeak and it roars loudly in response. He wastes no time in putting it into the pokeball. It offers no resistance to the action, to his surprise.

Footsteps sound from outside, and Law darts to a corner, shuffling under objects until he was hidden from view. The door opens again and in comes a tall, sickly-colored man. He had long purple hair, ratty, and wore a lab coat. This must be Caesar, then.

Caesar gasps upon seeing the open cryogenic chamber. "Why is there a Null missing!?" he cries out. Law clamps down on his jaw, mentally berating himself. He just had to leave the chamber open.

Caesar rushes to a comm on the wall. "Doflamingo? Doflamingo! He's not here? Well then where is he? Really? Fine, I'll call!" He steps away from the comm, taking a device from his pocket. "Doflamingo? It's Caesar. A Type:Null is missing! I just heard a roar and came to see, and it was gone! No, there was no broken glass. Okay. Well, hurry then!" He hangs up and slams a button against the wall, triggering an ear-splitting alarm that flashes the room in red every other second.

He leaves the room after that, rushing somewhere else, and Law scrambles out of his hiding spot. Suddenly his pack wiggles on his back, and he pulls it off, confused. When he opens it up, Sylveon bursts out from a pokeball. "S-Sylvie!" Law cries out, still confused, but happy to see her.

She digs around in his pack until she's pulled out another pokeball, and presses the button to release another pokemon: One Law recognizes as Corazon's Oricorio. It flaps in the air for a moment before landing, and Sylveon hops out of Law's bag, motioning for the door.

Corazon must have slipped them to him on purpose, Law realizes. Either way, he's glad they weren't with the kahuna when . . When . . .

Law breathes out, moving to a stand. If they were there to help, he wouldn't waste this chance. With more resolve than before, he opens the door and they slip out from the lab. Sylveon takes off, running down the hall, and Oricorio stops Law from following, cooing for him to follow in the other direction. Law glances one more time at Sylveon before turning to follow.

Oricorio leads him to another monitoring room. After making sure no one was inside, Law moves in and crouches in the shadows, still not sure if the rooms themselves were being observed. He watches the tapes, watches what was happening above, in the mansion. The volume is on, and he notices how the alarm was ringing across the entire compound, instead of just underground.

Doflamingo is back. He barks out something unintelligible in the noise, and Law moves to shut the door to blot out the sound so he could hear better. He watches as all the doors bar and close shut across the entire building. They were on lockdown.

Sylveon darts through on one of the monitors, and Law catches sight just as someone else seems to, because they're radioing Doflamingo from a mic about one of Corazon's pokemon being spotted. So there were more monitor rooms, then.

He can hear clearly now, the alarm muffled, as Doflamingo flies into a rage and demands the pokemon be captured. He pulls out a string of pokeballs and counts them, and Law realizes they were Corazon's. From beside him, Oricorio recognizes this as well, cooing in distress. Doflamingo finishes counting four and slams the string down on a table to the side, still barking out orders. Then, he pauses for a very long time. Slowly, he moves to face the camera in the room, and Law flinches back as their eyes meet.

As if sensing this, a grin overtakes Doflamingo's face. "It's Law."

Law's breath catches.

"Law!" Doflamingo barks. "I know you're out there!" Law flinches, his back bumping the wall. "You sided with Corazon, didn't you? I'll come find you! You have to be here somewhere!" He pauses again, the grin fading, then coming back in full force as he reaches out to snag the chain of pokeballs. He releases each of Corazon's pokemon and Law gasps as he takes in the sight. All of them are beaten badly from the previous battle, and none can stand on their feet.

"You have twenty minutes. Come to me or they all die."

Law lets out a strangled breath, and his legs give out.

"Here's your starting warning." Doflamingo takes out two pokeballs and releases his Pinsir and Beedrill. He has them fire off attacks, and then Altaria and Swoobat are pinned to the ground by their wings, pincers and stingers holding them in place. Their cries are strangled as they howl in pain, and blood splatters on the floor. Tears again well up in Law's eyes.

Oricorio darts through the walls, and it takes a moment to remember they were part ghost-type, so they had that ability. They reappear quickly and coo at Law, and he realizes he has to move. Now. They must've figured he was in one of the monitor rooms.

Subconsciously, his feet carry him to Doflamingo. It's only due to Oricorio's influence that he never arrives, being taken off the path every time he strays towards it. "W-Why," he finally croaks out, and the flying-type gives him a hard stare in return.

Right. Cora had sent his pokemon to Law to protect him. But! But he couldn't just let them die! That wasn't an option either!

In the back of his mind, he refuses to acknowledge that if he does return to Doflamingo, he would surely die as well.

They come across another monitor room and though Oricorio insists, Law refuses to pass it by. He darts in just as Sylveon is howling in pain, pinned to the ground in the same way as all of Corazon's other pokemon now were. Law's breathing quickens, matching the ringing of the alarm outside. Oricorio lands on his shoulder, cooing and beckoning him to move.

Law shakes his head. "I. I gotta go," he mumbles. "I gotta help them. They need help. I gotta go-"

Sylveon's growl has his attention immediately on the monitor again, and he watches as she barks out. And maybe he's going crazy at this point, but he can't help but feel like she was talking to him. Like she could somehow sense his thoughts like he could understand her intentions. She didn't want him to give up.

She howls out again and Doflamingo roars in response, and Beedrill lashes out and blood runs onto the floor and Sylveon's body grows still. She doesn't make another noise.

Law stumbles back and out the door, more tears dripping down his face. Oricorio takes off, flying ahead to lead him, and he has to hold both hands over his mouth to keep from making noise. Every time the pokemon would leave to dip through a wall, checking to make sure the next turn was clear, his fear would spike. Sylveon's last cries echoed in his head, over and over and over. They become so loud that he doesn't notice the alarm anymore, and he doesn't react immediately when Oricorio pushes him into a narrow path. She gestures forward with a wing and then flies off, and Law drops one hand from his mouth to reach out after her. He's about to call out when he hears yelling, and then members of the Family dart past.

He flinches back, further into the crevice, and the realization of Oricorio's sacrifice slams into him. He has no choice but to stumble down the path now, not wanting to waste the chance he'd been given. As he goes further and further, he realizes the path is tilted upward. The alarm grows quieter, and he allows himself to sniffle every now and then.

The path is dark, but narrow enough for him to to grasp the walls on either side. The tiles fade to dirt eventually, and then to damp earth. The walls fall away and he stumbles out onto a beach, quiet except for the waves crashing against the shore. The moon shines faintly overhead, a quarter full. He gasps out now, collapsing to the sand, and looks around him. The walls of Po town loomed over the land, but from a distance. He . . He was out.

He cries out, letting his forehead crash to the ground. Everything went so wrong. Why did everything go so wrong?!

Faintly, he acknowledges that he has to keep moving. He wasn't far enough away until he was off the island.

Law leaves the area sobbing, with two empty pokeballs and an Eevee egg cushioned in his pack.

He doesn't stop to realize where he's going until he's at a familiar oasis. Somehow, he's wandered down to the southern half of the island. It's dark outside, the gathered clouds blocking out the faint moonlight.

Someone calls out to him and he stumbles, legs shaky, breath picking up rapidly. But it's just a villager warning him about being too close to the desert, about Tapu Bulu not appreciating wanderers on its turf. Law turns his head to look at the desert entrance, an idea slowly hatching as the words register.

Corazon had told him to avoid the guardians at all cost. But as the kahuna of Ula'ula, he also had a relationship with the one in the desert. He had no one else to turn to, at this point.

He had to try.

He moves to the oasis, filling his jug fully with water. He drinks the first one completely, then cups his hands to drink more until he's gasping for breath. Then he refills and, checking to make sure none of the villagers were still up this late, he ventures into the desert.

Law wanders through the sands for a long, long time. It's very dark, and biting cold, and the dust whips at his skin constantly. He feels like he's going nowhere, but he doesn't stop, and his feet begin to ache from the effort of sinking into and out of the shifting sands. Sleep pulls at his eyelids, weighing them down, and he stops himself from yawning a handful of times.

It's maybe dawn by the time he slumps down and prepares to give up, the barest hint of light coating the sky above. It's only then that he realizes it's not sand underfoot, but stone. Then, he allows his body to collapse in relief, cheek slumping against the wall. He'd made it. This had to be where the guardian was.

He gathers his water and drinks greedily, draining nearly the entire thing. The pathway is long, and he feels eyes on him the entire time he walks along it. By the time he's made it into a small room, he's fully exhausted. But on he goes, pushing himself onto wooden steps that led up to a stone pillar. There's an altar on top, and he settles down in front of it, able to more no farther.

There are incense sticks in a clay pot beside the altar. He grabs one and rubs it between his hands to ignite it, then holds it in front of him, letting the smoke drift into the air. "Tapu Bulu," he calls out. His voice starts steady, but grows more frantic despite his efforts otherwise. "I know Corazon, the kahuna of Ula'ula. The one you chose. He's a good friend of mine. He-" He stops, catches his breath to prevent from choking up. "He wanted me to be safe. I need help! Please! If I stay here, I'll be killed for sure! I need to go somewhere." He sucks in a breath. "Anywhere!"

Law can feel the immense presence before him, and he halts his words. When he opens his eyes, he sees the incense blown out. The Tapu hovers in the air before him.

It looks very angry. Law can feel malintent radiating off of it, and he tenses, not ever feeling more scared in his life, not even after everything he had been through that day. "Please," he whispers. "I need to be sent somewhere far, far away. They can't-can't . ." His eyes droop, words dropping off. Exhaustion finally overtaking him, he collapses.

* * *

When Law wakes up, he's lying on his stomach, limbs all sprawled out, on a grassy area. He looks up and sees trees, tall and proud. A forest. He was in a-

He jumps to his feet, gasping, and then immediately collapses again, body still very, very tired. His gaze still moves around. Alola didn't have forests. Not like this.

His breath catches as a thought enters his mind, and he's pulling his pack open, tugging out the egg and examining it. Once he's sure it had no cracks, he wraps his arms around it for warmth and leans it against his chest.

One by one, his pokemon appear on their own. Law pulls out his water jug, trying to get them to drink some, but they each refuse. His stomach growls at one point and Kadabra wanders off to look for food.

Suddenly Law is reminded of his first time in Ula'ula, of scrounging for berries and picking broken pearl pieces from the beach, not knowing the shards wouldn't sell. Brionne comes closer and settles herself by his legs, and after another moment, Law drinks the rest of the water from the container.

Jangmo-o wanders around their area, never leaving Law's line of sight, but taking time to explore as well. It comes back when Kadabra returns with an armload of berries for them all to share. Law breathes out a sigh, patting Brionne on the head. This wasn't like in Ula'ula. They would be okay, this time. They were strong.

Everyone gathers in a small circle, and Law sets the egg in his lap to munch on a berry. He's halfway through his second before remembering he now had a fourth pokemon, and slowly pulls out the pokeball. His pokemon eye it warily, watching as Law presses the button.

Type:Null appears and stands there. From Law's position, it's twice his size, so to say it was intimidating was an understatement. It looks at him with grey, beady eyes, and he stares right back. He remembers its roar, loud in his head. But, though it's indeed intimidating, he doesn't feel afraid. Carefully, he reaches out to grab a berry from the pile, and holds it out for the pokemon. It sniffs at it, he can hear the sound, but the mask is still on, so he can't see its nose, much less its mouth. Ah. Guess that would be a problem with eating the berry.

Law feels bad, but he doesn't think he can take the mask off. It didn't seem that easy. The pokemon eyes him once more and then sits down. Law pulls back the berry, taking a bite of it himself.

Eventually, it lies down, docile. Law turns back to it when he notices, and he nods to it. "Hello. I'm Law."

It grunts in response. He can't tell if it was negative or positive, so he settles on neutral.

After a while, once Law is rested enough to move, he picks himself up and the five of them wander around the forest, eating the berries and exploring the area. Law's grip on the egg is firm, but still, every so often it pulses. He becomes worried. Was it sick? He hadn't been keeping it very warm.

They exit the forest to a rolling plain, to crisp and clean air. But Law's not focused on that, could barely care at all, because all he can see is the pokemon center in the distance. He cries out, rushing forward, then jerks to a stop and gathers his empty pokeballs, returning each of his pokemon.

He almost trips up the steps and has to catch himself on the door, which swings open automatically, leaving him stumbling inside. He rushes to the counter. "Nurse Joy! Please look at my egg!"

The nurse at the counter looks up from the monitor rapidly, blinking at Law, and then gasping when she sees the egg. "Why is it not in an incubator?"

"I, uh, I didn't have one. I've been trying to keep it warm myself, really, but I'm still worried about it, I think something is wrong," he rambles.

Nurse Joy eyes him for a minute, then sits back down. "Show me your trainer's license."

Law pulls it out immediately, shuffling the egg to one arm so that he can reach it. He hands it over and then realizes the age requirement might be different wherever he ended up. "Uh, it's from Alola!"

The nurse examines it for a minute, and then nods, hands it back. She moves from behind the counter and gently takes the egg from Law's arms, and he lets her, grateful it was in the care of someone who knew what they were doing. "I promise I'll take good care of it," she tells him.

Law picks out a seat and waits. And waits. He gets up for a cup of water, and toys with the plastic long after he's drained it. It's a few hours later that Nurse Joy returns, the egg now encased in a glass incubator. She hands it to him and smiles, and Law reflects the expression a little nervously.

"Everything is fine with it. Actually, what you felt was movement." She grins down at him. "It's about to hatch."

* * *

Luffy has been wrapped around him for a while now, arms around his torso, leaning against his shoulder. When Law finishes, breaking off, seeing no point in going further, he sags into the comforting weight. Around them, the rain falls. It's the only sound breaking the comfortable silence.

Luffy is still bleeding, though it seems to be slower, the wound beginning to clot. "How do you feel?" he asks, voice low from overuse.

Luffy grimaces, as if he's just noticing the pain. He leans away and moves his shoulder a bit. "Hurts," he grunts.

Law gestures for him to remove his jacket, then digs in his pack for the lum berry Moda had given them. That should kill any sort of static condition lying in wait. He peels off the green shell and places it in the mortar, then reaches for a sitrus berry and mashes them both together.

Luffy shrugs off his jacket and starts shivering. He pushes the hem of his shirt over his shoulder instead of taking it off completely. It was too cold for that.

Once Law has finished mashing the paste, he sets the bowl aside and takes out a cloth. He leans out to let the rain soak it, then works to wash Luffy's wound clean. It wasn't very deep, but it was wide and long, and law didn't doubt it hurt. A lot.

He spreads the paste on, ignoring Luffy's wincing, and grabs a patch to cover it instead of bandages. The shirt was in the way too much for that to be an option. He lets the rain rinse out the bowl while Luffy shrugs back on his shirt and jacket. A noise catches their attention, has them looking out to a couple Wooper splashing around in the puddles. They make noise having fun playing in the rain, and each time, a small tune echoes back. It doesn't take long for Law to spot a Kricketune also taking shelter from the rain further away, playing a small song in response to the Wooper.

Luffy leans back with a huff of laughter, and even Law finds himself smiling, his earlier mood forgotten.

That is, until Luffy pulls out the letter.

They both stare at it for a few moments, anticipation brewing in the air. Law slides over to sit next to Luffy, and the trainer opens it, loosening the string and uncurling the paper.

Luffy,

Please hold on to Volcarona for me. I left his pokeball for this reason. After everything is settled, I'll come retrieve him.

Luffy hums. "He wants to see me again." Law nods. He'd just been thinking the same thing.

I'm working undercover with a team to take down a pokemon hunter organization based at Stark Mountain. They've been prominent in Sinnoh for a short while, and have caused major problems already. My team was contracted by the champion of the region after a certain incident. It's important that our identities remain a disguise, or far more sinister things could happen. If you hear the names Two, Goldenweek, or Komala, know they will not go against you. That's all I can say on the matter.

Luffy's breath catches and Law knows he's reading slower by the reaction. It takes him another second before he gets to the part about Shanks, and then he understands.

Shanks is involved, somehow. I'm not quite sure, I just know he is here. I know he cannot leave. For your safety, I need you to stay out of it. Read that line again, slowly. Me and my team have the situation under control. Everything is becoming so much more dangerous, and for anyone who doesn't know the situation, becoming involved will be extremely detrimental. You will get in our way, understand? You will be in danger. Do not come here!

I need you to be safe, Luffy. Once everything is settled, I swear I will come for you.

Sabo.

Law's head is reeling by the end. How . . long, had Sabo had that note prepared? It seemed too neat and too concise to be written in the short time they had been apart. Also, since Sabo knew about Shanks, it was possible he knew Luffy would be involved eventually.

The paper crunches as Luffy squeezes it, and then he's jumping to his feet, pacing under their small shelter. He does this for a short while, then stops and snaps his attention to Law. "I'm forming a rescue mission."

Law frowns; that's his first response. But as he thinks back, after everything that had happened, could he really be surprised? He moves to his feet as well. "Caesar Clown. Remember? One of the hunters said it before."

He watches as Luffy's eyes light up in recognition. "The same name from your story!"

Law nods. "There's also the 'Caesar' that kidnapped Tama. I'm almost positive it's the same person." He waits for Luffy to register the words, then cracks a smile. "I'll tag along on your rescue mission. I wanna see what Caesar is up to, put a stop to it, even."

Luffy grins right back. "Great! Then we'll be together for a while longer." He frowns then. "Where is Stark Mountain anyways?"

Law purses his lips. He watches the rain, but the wind wasn't blowing it into them, and the tree worked as a good shelter, so he pulls out the map. They find it after some searching in the top eastern corner, on the back crest of the Battle Zone.

"What's it like?"

Law shrugs. "I've never been."

"Oh." Luffy shrugs. "At least we have a ship."

The words linger in the air for a moment, and then they both jerk up their heads to eye each other.

"How much time has passed?" Law breathes.

Luffy shakes his head. "I-I dunno!" He looks around. "It's darker, though!"

Quickly, they pack up Law's bag, stuffing all their supplies into it. They decide to move south, figuring if they could find water -the ocean- they could work their way back to the city.

They brace themselves for the rain, hiking up their hoods, and move quickly. The ground is more stable than the marsh by far, which is nice, but it's still fairly wet. It doesn't take long at all to reach the ocean. It's further inland than expected, the path cutting a space between the land.

Luffy gets closer, eyeing a blob of bright colors, and spots an Octillery bobbing in the depths. He shows it to Law, and it's worth it to be out in the rain to see the sight.

They turn right and slant their path upwards in hopes they would hit the city. Eventually, the rain comes to a stop, the sky now just overcast without pouring down. It was definitely darker, which meant they both had spent a good majority of the day running through the marsh and trekking through the forest.

Finally, the trees begin to thin enough to make out structures ahead. They reach the south end of the city, covered in deep, large puddles that they have to dart around, making for port as quickly as they can. The land is flat enough to accommodate a wide view, and from their position, they can see the docks already.

"Jinbe!" Luffy calls out once the ship is in sight. "Jinbe!" They get closer, still running, and he calls out again, letting the name drag. And again. He's about to raise his arms and start waving when Jinbe appears on the edge of the deck. He spots them and moves to lower the hatch, and the duo don't even slow down, scrambling onboard and only then sinking to the deck, out of breath from running so far.

Jinbe lifts the hatch and looks to his watch. "You still had a couple hours."

Law sags at the words, breathing out a sigh between his pants. All that time running . .

Luffy catches his breath first, and wastes no time in slapping his hands to the deck and lowering his forehead to touch it as well. "Jinbe!" he says, very loudly. "I need another favor! I need to get to the Battle Zone!"

It's silent for a long while. Law glances between the two, and eventually, Luffy raises his head to eye Jinbe, who's staring back in return. After another few tense moments, Jinbe sighs and cracks a smile.

"Well, it's a good thing that's where my cargo is due."

Luffy gasps, then he's on his feet, cheering.

"We'll head back to Veilstone to pick it up," Jinbe informs them. "But it'll be another full day until I have it all and we can sail out."

"That's okay. Thank you!" Luffy bows his head again. "Thank you, Jinbe!"

* * *

Back in Veilstone, Jinbe gives Law and Luffy a day and a half to gather what they needed. They would set out for the Fight Area after that time had passed.

They stop at Makino's cafe first, and she makes them drop their bags and settle at the counter for a free meal. After the last twenty-four hours, it's the best meal Law has ever had. They insist they had gotten sleep on the ship ride back, declining her spare bed to rest. They do accept her offer of a shower, though, and after they're done eating, move their bags to the spare room where the bathroom was.

As Law showers, Makino fusses over Luffy's cut, berating him for not being careful and not asking what he got it from. Luffy was grateful for that -he wasn't sure if he would tell her what danger he'd been in if she had asked, and he hated lying to her.

When it's Luffy's turn to shower, Makino turns her attention to the gash on Law's arm that was now visible. He sits on a stool after throwing on pants and lets her redress the wound.

"We're headed to Stark Mountain next," he tells her.

She raises a brow. "Stark Mountain is an active volcano," she notes.

Law shrugs, because he hadn't known that, but he also didn't want to spoil Luffy's tale by telling her why they were going to such a perilous location. But Makino pries and pries, and Luffy still isn't back, so Law gives in, telling her what happened at the marsh and what they'd learned from Sabo's letter. He's careful to omit Shanks, and to skirt over most of the dangerous stuff. She probably worried enough as it was, and Law didn't want to make it worse.

Makino finishes working on his arm and breathes out a sigh. She settles on her own chair. "Does it have anything to do with Shanks?" she asks, very abruptly.

Before Law can reply, Luffy comes into the room. "Yeah," he says. "He's involved somehow. We met an old lady on the way here, and she told us her granddaughter was kidnapped by a guy that works with the hunters. She said something about a man coming to her and committing to getting the girl back. I'm pretty sure now that that was Shanks."

Makino sobers at the mention of a kidnapped child. "Then . . this goes beyond a simple poaching ring."

"It's definitely more large-scale," Law confirms.

She sighs. "Okay. I know I can't stop you, but I want you to be careful," she say to Luffy. "And you too!" She turns to Law, eyeing him until he nods in understanding. "You both can stay here until you leave, okay? And! You have to let me take you shopping! I want to help, however I can."

Luffy smiles, and it fills his entire face. "Thanks, Makino!"

She eyes their clothes, specifically both of their ripped shirts that lay on the edge of the bed. "Also, I'm buying you both new clothes. You need them."

The next morning, all three of them depart for the Veilstone department store. They have time, so they explore the city as they head in that direction. Luffy and Makino show Law around various places, and overall, it's a relaxing break to their usual pace.

They get an assortment of food, and then extra, at Luffy's insistence. Law gathers some disinfectant and medical ointment to keep their wounds clean. Then they spend a while just browsing, exploring all five floors of the store.

Luffy picks out a short-sleeve shirt that ends at his belly, and a long-sleeve that goes underneath. He also ends up with a pair of shorts that come to just above his knee, and dark leggings that end just below. After eyeing it for a minute, he swipes a bandana as well, wearing it around his neck. They change out his sandals for a sturdier pair of shoes.

Law gets a sleeveless top, and light-colored, baggy pants. At Luffy's insistence, he tries on a pair of gloves that extend to his elbows and finds he likes them.

Makino picks them out panchos, ones of heavy material and ornate patterns. "Ash falls from the volcano," she tells them, "and it goes all over the surrounding area. You'll want these for sure."

So they accept the panchos.

When evening falls, they stand outside Makino's cafe with their new clothes on and their packs swung over their shoulders.

"Good luck," Makino says, and luffy rushes forward to hug her.

"Thank you!"

Law echoes his words, and Makino laughs them off. "Be safe, okay?"

Jinbe is waiting for them at the port. He leads them onto the ship, and his crew awaits them. He introduces Law, and he makes special care to remember Aladine and Praline, the ship's first and second officers.

"We'll reach the Fight Area in the morning," Jinbe announces. "It's on the southwestern tip of the Battle Zone. You two-" He points to Law and Luffy. "Be ready to move out as soon as we dock. You're going to have a long day again. I'd get some rest before that happens."

* * *

i did manage to finish that pkmn team graphic the other day ! i'll link it below, along with notes for the first three parts. if any of the links break, it's on my tumblr (cheswirl) under the tag _tether_. i'll try and have pt 4 up w notes by the end of the week.

cheswirl (dot] tumblr (dot] com /post/187879593322 [art thing]

cheswirl (dot] tumblr (dot] com /post/187903182312/ [pt 1-2 notes]

cheswirl (dot] tumblr (dot] com /post/187906218502/ [pt 3 notes]


	4. stark mountain

_**content warnings: **__tw: stab wounds, vegetative state, mind control, child abuse, solitary confinement, suffocation, pokemon abuse, experimentation._

Luffy has never been to the Battle Zone, but gazing out at the fast-approaching land from the ship's deck, he can tell how different it is from anything he's come across.

Law has never been this far north, and as they get closer to their destination, he begins to feel the pull that tells him to never leave.

The ship docks and the ocean turns placid as far as their eyes can see when it shuts off so the crew can unload their cargo. The water is dark and looks deep, a sharp contrast to the immediate greenery on land. The streets are non-existent, instead being worn paths on the grass, and the buildings are small, cobbled things that seem very well-maintained.

They watch as people wander about the brightly-colored containers scattered at the docks, organizing themselves to work with the ship's crew to unload all the cargo. A path to the ground lowers from the ship, but before they can move off, Jinbe comes up from behind and stops them with a hand on their shoulders.

"Be careful," he tells them, voice a deep rumble. When they look back, his expression is serious. "The Battle Zone is a wild area. It's completely unlike the rest of Sinnoh. Be cautious in your endeavors, but also be safe in getting there, too."

Despite being further north, the sun seemed to hit this area harder than when they'd been on the mainland. They forego their ponchos, leaving them in their bags, and let the sun warm their skin instead.

This first "town" was known as the Fight Area, according to the map. There was a Resort Area on the opposite shore, more of a tourist destination. That was all they knew. The culture difference becomes apparent rather quickly as they wander down the beaten path, more into a cluster of buildings. People ride past atop Rapidash, and children run about with Eevee at their feet. Eventually the space between buildings separates into a small clearing, and stalls that look just put-together dot the area.

They keep to the middle, but pass closer to a stall occasionally. There were villages selling charms and cloth, obviously handmade things. And then there were others selling delicacies, like Fearow meat hanging from string, and jars of puree made from fresh razz berries. The locals dress more like you would expect from someone residing north of Sinnoh. Everyone is dressed in darker colors, with bandanas tied over their heads and their vests lined with fur.

They're approached by a couple of passing children, woven baskets filled with tall stems tied to their backs, and they offer to sell them some huki leaves. Law glances again to the green in the baskets, while Luffy perks up, crouching down to their eye-level.

"What are those?" he asks.

"Oh, these!" One of them reaches for a stem from the other's stock, and holds it out for Luffy to see. "You bite into the stalk, like this-" She crunches down on it and her companion giggles, muffling the sound behind a gloved hand. "And it's really good! The inside is filled with juice, and they grow this time of year, so-" Her companion elbows her and she breaks off, face turning red.

"She means!" The other girl says, voice raising. "You can only buy them from us! If you've never had them before, you should try a few. I've never met anyone who doesn't like huki leaves."

Luffy hums, trying to look like he was thinking about it, but there was a certain gleam to his eyes. Law huffs out a laugh and digs up some change to buy a handful, handing the coins to one of the girls. They both gasp and thank him, and Luffy reaches out to take the stalks they're offered. The girls run off after, laughing as they count their money, and Law's gaze lingers on them.

Their clothing was different from what he'd seen, and he didn't miss how their accents were thick, and not like the noise around them. Their outfits were definitely more distinct, with deep colors and bright patterns etched onto the fabric. Their gloves extended to their knuckles, and were tied with a cord at the wrist. They wore felt chokers around their necks, and bandanas around their foreheads, as opposed to the way he'd seen them worn by others.

Luffy grabs a huki leaf before he can think much on it, immediately biting into the stem. "Oh!" he gasps. "Traffy, it's good! Try one!"

He takes Luffy's advice and bites into one. It was good. The stalk was crunchy, but not overly so, and the juice inside made up for it. He could see why they were popular, especially if they only grew in season.

They wrap the rest of the leaves up in paper and stick them in Law's bag, leaving one for each out to nibble on. Law didn't know how long they would stick around, but they had to get some sort of information on Stark Mountain before heading out. He wasn't willing to try and find it based on a rough map sketch of the area, and with Jinbe's earlier words of caution, he was eager to learn more on the volcano and what exactly they were getting into.

"I think we should ask about the pokemon that live here," Luffy says, tipping his head to face Law. "Not that we can't take them, but it would be nice to- What? What's so funny?"

Law shakes his head, his attempt to stifle his chuckles failing. "Uh. Well-"

"Oh!" Luffy points. "Traffy, your lips are black!"

He snorts. "Well, your cheeks are black. And your nose. It must be the leaves."

Luffy makes a face, glaring down at the stem in his hand. "Really? Ugh, I guess you can't get away with eating one unnoticed." He lifts an arm and scrubs at his face, and Law snorts and grabs it, stopping him from spreading the black further.

"You're making it worse," he tells him, and Luffy's frown deepens. Law sighs and drops his arm, reaching to a pouch on the side of his pack and pulling out a water jug. "Here, hold out your hands."

Luffy perks at this, cupping his hands and letting Law pour some water onto them. That did the trick, clearing away the sticky juice and the black powder both, and Luffy wipes the excess onto his shorts, not a care in the world. Law rolls his eyes but doesn't comment, just slips the container back in its place.

They're passing a building with a long porch when Law stops them, attention caught on the older lady conversing with a small child. She's sitting on a wooden stool, flat and lower to the ground, and both her and the child are dresed like the two merchant girls had been. That's not what has his attention, though.

"What?" Luffy calls, turning around. He glances to the door, eyeing the name printed there. "A tea shop? You want tea now?"

"No, it's . ." He closes his jaw, but takes a step towards the two.

"It's what?"

"That lady. Her tattoo is just like my mother's."

Luffy's lips part at this explanation, and he examines the woman more closely. "The . . what? I can't see it. Are you sure?"

Law nods, already stepping forward. The child breaks off in their speech as he approaches, and they both turn to look up at Law.

"Can I help you, dear?" The woman asks.

Law bobs his head. "Your lip tattoo . . Would you tell me about it?"

Her eyes open wider, and she reaches up a hand to rub at the skin there. The area around her lips has been darkened, pulling into a smile, almost like thick lipstick, but a bit more overdone. It's obviously faded from age. She hums. "It's a sign on the coming of age of Ainu women," she explains. Her fingers trace to the divot on her top lip. "Girls start by getting a mark here, and they're tattooed until the mark is full, like mine. When it's complete, it signifies they're of marrying age."

Law nods again, peering at it. "I thought . . so . . ." He breaks off as the patterns on the two's clothes come into focus, and he finally recognizes them. His eyes widen and he turns to slip off his pack, digging until he pulls out a lump of fabric. It was the old, worn scarf he'd taken from home before leaving, the one that had been Lami's. He carefully unfolds it, wary of its state, and takes a closer look at the pattern decorating it.

It was the same as the one these locals were wearing.

The woman recognizes this as well, humming again, her lips pulling into a smile. The child beside her lets out a small gasp, and she reaches out to cup the boy's head, rubbing his hair. Law turns to eye her, the scarf still in his hands, and she hums again.

"Child," she says. "Where did you come from?"

* * *

Law and Luffy are invited into the shop the woman owns, and she sets them at a long table, backs facing the window. They're served tea in small, ceramic cups, the edges ribbed. Luffy sips on his portion, smiling at the flavor, while Law uses his cup to warm his hands. The woman leans against the counter to their right, her own mug grasped in her hands.

"My village is on the mainland of Sinnoh, in the southwest portion. It's near Mount Coronet, but also not far from the sea, below Oreburgh."

She takes time to examine him, eyes roving over his face, his bare shoulders, his hands cupped around the mug, fingerless gloves pulled up to his elbows but not providing much in terms of insulation. Her eyes move back to his and she takes a small sip of her own tea before replying. "You've been away from home for a long time," she remarks.

His eyes downcast. Beside him, Luffy stiffens. "I . . Well. Yes." He breathes out. "There was an incident, a while back, when I was a child. And now, there's no one left." He shrugs. "I'm the last one from my village."

The woman frowns and moves to set herself across from them. The sunrays coming in through the window catch on her face. "Let me see your scarf," she asks, setting her cup aside. Law reaches out and gently hands her the fabric, and she takes her time in unraveling it, letting her fingers skate across the worn material. "You've been without your culture for a long time, huh?" Law nods and she smiles. "Allow me to teach you, then." Her hands tighten around the scarf. "We must conduct a funeral for them."

Law blinks, interest caught, and she sets the scarf back down on the table before rising. She moves to the other side of the room to stir the embers in the fireplace, poking it until it became a proper flame, and then adding wood so it turned into a roaring fire.

She comes back to the table and unravels the scarf, handing one end to Law. "You didn't send them off before?" At his nod, she gestures to the fire. "Kamuy-huci will be our guide. She'll watch over us from the hearth. I want you to rip apart the scarf from your end. I'll do the same from my end." His eyes widen, mouth falling open in protest, and she raises a hand. "Child, it already won't last much longer. And this is the last you have of them. You need to send them off."

He settles down, more subdued now, and nods. She was right. The scarf was already in tatters, already moth-eaten, already so old. It would be better to use it for ceremony and put it to use, instead of letting it waste away at the bottom of his bag. He takes the end of the scarf and pulls at the fabric, and it tears easily. Across from him, the woman takes out a wooden-beaded necklace from inside her robes, grasping at it with one hand. She uses the elbow of the same arm to hold the scarf, and her free hand to rip pieces as well.

Her lips part and she whispers prayers in a language unfamiliar yet recognizable to Law. he can't understand the words, but he knows he's heard them before, from his time as a child. After a minute, when a sizable portion of the scarf has been torn, she looks up at Law again. "Damaging a person's possession helps carry their spirit to the next life. Using this is untraditional, but Kamuy-huci will not be so unkind, if it is all you have left."

They work silently, only the roar of the fire as a noise, until they both reach the middle. The woman nods and lets go, having Law rip the last few pieces. She gets to her feet, satisfied, and has Law gather the scraps. Luffy sets down his cup and moves with Law to the hearth, and watches as Law is directed to throw the pieces into the fire.

"Kamuy-huci is the Ainu goddess of fire," the woman tells them. "She lives in the volcano up north of here, and is very central to Ainu culture."

Law gestures to himself and Luffy, moving his gaze from the crackling flames to her. "We came here to go there, to the volcano."

She eyes the both for a minute, taking them in. "Be very careful," she finally says, "When wandering that ground. It is not only sacred, but treacherous. I won't tell you not to go, many take the journey to Stark Mountain, but it is still an active volcano. Lava isn't the only killer around there."

She must have been referring to the ash, or the heat. From looking at the map, Law could tell the mountain range leading to the volcano wouldn't be easy to traverse, either. They take her warning to heart.

"Thank you, for helping me," Law tells her, and she smiles once again.

"Just because you've been away from your culture doesn't mean you can no longer be a part of it. Wait outside, I'll join you in a moment."

She goes further into the shop, and Law and Luffy pick up their bags and head for the door. Law glances once more to the fire, burning bright in the corner, and Luffy lays a hand on his arm. He looks down at it and then over at Luffy.

"Are you okay?" he asks. Law nods, but only just.

Outside the shop, the woman points northeast, and in the distance they can faintly see the forms of the mountains. "It's that direction." Then, she pulls out a small bag and undoes the cord tying the top, pulling out two hooped earrings. She holds them out to Law. After a moment, he takes them. Her smile is more of a grin now, pulling at her cheeks. "Take them. Your golden ones are nice, but these are more befitting of an Ainu."

He holds them up. They were lightweight, constructed from what looked like the same white-barked trees that lined the edges of the village. There was a small bead wrapped around the bottom of each. "Thank you," he says, curling his hand around them.

"My name is Olvia," she tells them, as Luffy helps Law remove his golden studs and put in the new hoops. They really were lightweight -he almost couldn't tell they were there. She tucks a strand of her light hair behind her ear, showing off her own earrings.

"I'm Law," he replies in kind. "And this is Luffy." Luffy holds up a hand, nodding to her.

Olvia clasps her hands in front of her body. "Have a safe journey, the both of you. And beware of Ursaring when you head into the forest. The Battle Zone is unlike the rest of Sinnoh."

Law is reminded once again of Jinbe's words, and he takes Olvia's warning to heart as well.

"Ursaring," Luffy mumbles. "Does that mean Teddiursa as well?"

"Yes," Olvia tells him. "Especially this time of year, when they like to wander off on their own. Ursaring don't appreciate their young being messed with any more than they do their territory being invaded."

It looked like they were in for quite the journey.

* * *

Their first impressions of the wilds of the Battle Zone are good.

The forest they enter into is filled with lush flora. Conifers sprout up around them, but not clustered enough to prevent walking or seeing the landscape in general. More commonly were the stone pines that grew everywhere the eye could see, all in various heights and stages of growth. Some of them were low to the ground, squatty, and partially hidden by the green grass tall enough to sway in the breeze. Others were around Luffy's height, with thick trunks and bushy leaves that sprouted pink clusters of seeds. Some even had small aguav berries bursting from them, which confirmed they were fruit seeds. They were pretty bitter, Law informs Luffy, and this shys the trainer away from plucking one.

After hiking up for a bit, they wander down into a valley, and it's there that they see clusters of huki, leaves fanning out near the ground. The sky gets more cloudy as they wander the valley, and the green grows darker, lusher. The earth is rich in shade, and unlike anything Law had ever encountered on the mainland of Sinnoh. He wonders if the soil was good for plant life, or if everything around them was more due to the climate.

They enter into a lower portion of the valley and Law pulls out the map to reference their location. Luffy wanders back to glance at it, and they figure they were somewhere still closer north to the strip of land the Fight Area sat on.

"The easiest path to reach the bay would be to follow the coastline," Law says, tracing a figurative path with a finger. "Olvia said the volcano was more northeast, so it would be a waste of time to continue going straight."

"You think we'll be able to see it at the bay?" Luffy asks.

Law shrugs. "We'll at least be able to see the mountain range. Maybe, let's say we get lucky, and we can see the smoke? That's a direction to move in, at the very least."

"It's not smoke."

Law looks up from the map. "What?"

"It's gas. Stuff like sulfur and ash." Luffy's lips are downturned, and his eyes are distant. "That's what comes from a volcano. It's more deadly than smoke."

"Seen one before?"

"Back home. There's one on the Sevii Islands, called Mount Ember." Luffy snaps back to the present, shaking his head slightly. "Sorry, it's not that important."

"No, that's okay. I don't mind being corrected." Law folds the map back up. "Do you . . miss it?"

"Home?" Luffy's silent for a few moments, contemplating. It's not until they're moving again that he answers. "Yeah, I guess I do."

They move their path east, and the terrain changes to mark this. The valley levels out, then curves up again, the land elevating. They leave behind the huki and the stone pines take over as the prominent tree, growing in thicker clusters that they have to maneuver around. At one point they stumble out onto a ridge that overlooked the rolling hills before them. The ground dipped and rose, over and over, for as far as they could see.

Growling catches Luffy's attention at one point and he stops them as it morphs into dual roars. Carefully, they trek further from the sound, and then end up at enough of an elevation to see what the commotion had been.

It's two Ursaring brawling, snarling at each other. Blood dripped from one of them, and patches of fur were scattered around the feet of another. They both roar and move in to tackle each other, and Law takes Luffy's hand and leads them backwards, until they're out of sight again. They swerve more east, doing their best to steer clear of the fight and of any other sounds they encounter.

It's midday when they finally reach the coast, the sun peeking out from behind a hole in a patch of clouds. The sky is still very grey, not changing from when they had first left the forest. Whether it was due to the fumes of the volcano, or the northernness of the region, Law couldn't even begin to guess. It still wasn't getting cold, despite the lack of clear sunlight, and that was all that really mattered.

Below them, the coastline is rocky, and the rocks that jutted from the earth were dark and slippery-looking. They kept to the cliffed path above it, letting it take them around the inner edge of the island. The earth is still dark, but the grass has turned scrubby and pale, and several patches were beginning to brown, even. It was in contrast to inside the valley, but probably had to do with the ocean being so close.

The smell of brine is strong, flooding Law's senses. It's much more potent here than it had been on the ship, probably because they were closer to it. And there were smells on the ship that could have interfered, whereas here it was all nature, as beautiful and unsightly as it could get, depending on what the land warranted.

From inside the packs of trees further inland, the sharp calls of Fearow ring out. They don't pay it much attention, instead looking out to sea, where they can see a Wailmer swimming in the distance. It shoots out a spout of water at one point, then turns on its back to land back in the ocean, causing a wave to hide its body from view. The ripples make it out to the rocks below their path.

As their path curves more to the north, they begin to see hondew trees dotted around. After confirming they were ripe enough, they pick some to snack on, both enjoying the different array of taste the fruit offered. Law in particular enjoys the simple act of eating them, not having to worry about wrapping some up for later medicinal uses since they didn't offer much in that scope.

Instead, they had to worry about competing with the Fearow. One flops down on a branch by Luffy's hand as the trainer reached for a berry, and opened its beak to caw loudly in protest, wings spreading in an attempt at intimidation. Luffy chuckles and shakes his head, but lets the bird have its way, stepping back. As they continue forward, Law looks back to see rustling from further up that particular tree, and a couple Spearow flutter down to land above the Fearow, chirping.

When their feet hit the bay, they're both surprised to find the sands that kick up are black.

The entire beach is full of black sand, and while it's a pleasant shock, the sight could have been better. True, it was devoid of footprints, but it wasn't very smooth. Driftwood collected on the shore, both in gnarled, long strips, and smaller, splintered pieces. Moss was scattered throughout in small clumps. The ground was uneven, so the waves carried further in at some points than others, and left behind puddles when they receded.

It was yet another example of how . . unkempt the island was. At some points they had seen the beauty nature untouched could create. This was not one of them. The beach could actually benefit from being cleaned up. Law stops Luffy from taking his shoes off, fearing hidden rocks in the sands, and eyeing the driftwood carefully.

Luffy complains that he was no fun, but Law would rather be called that than deal with a sprained ankle. He gets over it soon enough when a pokeball of his begins to shake, and he opens it to let Chimchar out. The fire-type immediately begins to scamper around, playing in the sands, and Luffy looks on, laughing, as Law takes a glance at their surroundings.

The cliffs are large here, and the sides slope down sharply to the sands. He can make out mineral deposits embedded in the lower portions, but other than that, the rock gives way quickly to plant life. Scruffy trees gather closer to the top, spilling over the edge once it plateaus and hiding how tall the cliffs really were. Law can't see over them, and the stretch around the entire northern side of the bay, so figuring out exactly where they were wasn't going well.

"Aww, I can't see mountains," Luffy complains. "Can you?" he asks, turning to Law, who shakes his head. Luffy frowns. "Damn."

A shout from Chimchar gathers their attention, and they quit thinking about their location when they see a small Teddiursa stumble to the coast and collapse into the sands, obviously injured. Luffy lets out a noise and takes off, running to it when Chimchar does the same. Law hangs back, though, wary. Was its mother around? The last thing they needed right now was-

"Traffy!" Luffy calls, crouched down beside the pokemon. Law sighs, forgoing the thought and moving until he's crouching down beside the trio. He doesn't hesitate as he sets his pack down and leans over Teddiursa, eyeing its form. It was panting heavily, an eye screwed shut and the other barely open, looking to them with obvious fright.

"Talk to it," Law mumbles, reaching out to feel along a hind leg, where he can see a deep scratch dripping blood. The pokemon flinches, but Law doesn't pull away.

"Hey, you're gonna be okay," Luffy tells Teddiursa, moving his head lower to the ground to be more on its eye-level. His voice is soft, and his tone reassuring, and Law knows this isn't the first time he's had to do this. He moves his hand across the scratch, carefully, as Teddiursa cocks its head to look back at Luffy.

"I bet you were really scared," Luffy murmurs. "But you're in good hands now. We can help you. You can trust us, got it? We won't let anything else happen to you."

As Luffy talks, Law moves his hands across the pokemon's body, examining its injuries. They weren't too severe, so it became more obvious that the collapse was likely due to outrunning whatever caused them. Perhaps shock, too. He opens his pack up and reaches inside to gather a couple wiki berries, and then, after contemplating, some nanab as well, to help calm it down.

He peels that first and holds out a piece for Teddiursa to take. Luffy breaks off in his speech as the pokemon nibbles on the berry, and Law gives him the remainder to hold onto when Teddiursa needed more. He eyes the cut again then moves to juice the wiki berries, but a loud roar has him pause.

They both look up quickly to see an Ursaring charging down the cliffside, straight towards them. Immediately Luffy jumps up and he and Chimchar rush to meet it, trying to fend it off. Law chokes out a curse as the trainer sends out Munchlax to help as well, but the Ursaring is pissed off and obviously powerful, and it's not boding well.

He picks up his bag and slings it over his shoulder, stepping away from Teddiursa in hopes that it would calm the Ursaring down. But his plan backfires as Teddiursa cries out at being abandoned and Ursaring roars in distress as the noise reaches it. Law reaches down and gathers the injured pokemon in his arms, and Teddiursa calms down considerably, much to his relief.

He sighs and takes out Alakazam's pokeball as Chimchar is thrown towards the waves. With a simple order, the pokemon holds Ursaring in place with psychic, and Luffy backs up to check on Chimchar. Except, the Ursaring grows rabid as it's held in place, and once it sees Law holding its child, thrashes until it breaks free. Law backs up as it breaks into a sprint, and his breath catches as it crashes into Alakazam, sending his pokemon flying.

"Shit, _shit,_" Law spits, already reaching for another pokeball, Teddiursa still secured in his arms. From between them, Luffy steps forward and thrusts an arm into the air, his hand beginning to glow. Law hesitates to release his next pokemon as Luffy concentrates, not knowing what effect the aura would have. It doesn't end up mattering, because before Luffy gets too far along, Ursaring stops, lets out a roar, and collapses.

Luffy's arm drops and his jaw grows slack in confusion. From Law's angle, he can clearly see the arrow piercing the pokemon's side. He falls to his knees, breathing out a sigh of relief, and Teddiursa shuffles in his arms.

"Stay still!" A voice shouts, and a man wanders out from the trees, sliding down the cliff. He's wearing the same style robes Olvia had been in, with similar patterns. As he moves closer to the Ursaring Law observes his full beard, his scarred appearance. He pulls out a knife and digs the arrow out, then crouches to examine the injury it left in the pokemon. After a moment, he moves to observe its face, confirming it was down.

As he's shaking the hunk of skin from the arrowhead, a woman appears from the treeline, moving to the sands until she was before Law.

"How is Teddiursa?" she asks, and Law blinks, taking in her figure as well. Her hair was dark and shoulder-length, and she wore several beaded necklaces over her robes. Her and the man were clearly together, but he had just killed the Ursaring, so Law's first instinct is to become guarded.

"Injured," he says, eyes narrowing. She crouches down to examine the pokemon in his arms and he catches sight of her earrings from behind her hair. They were almost the same style as the ones he now wore.

"I'm Laki," she murmurs, standing and holding out a hand for Law. He relaxed after a moment, putting away his pokeball and letting her pull him up. She nods to the man that moves toward them now, shoving the arrow back into a quiver at his side. "This is Kamakiri."

"Thank you for saving us!" Luffy tells him. Chimchar is nestled in his arms, gripping him tightly, and Munchlax is at his side. Law nods as well, because he can acknowledge that they had been outclassed. The warnings they had been given had not been unwarranted. Alakazam is just now staggering up from his heavy hit.

"It you really are, then you'll help us get this Ursaring back home," Kamakiri says. "It's a mighty big one, and I can't do it myself!"

"Yeah, sure!" Luffy lets Chimchar clamber onto his shoulders so his hands are free. "You help too, okay?" he says to Munchlax, who nods in agreement.

Law returns Alakazam and shuffles Teddiursa in his arms. He watches as Kamakiri, Luffy, and Munchlax heft the Ursaring into the air and shuffle down the coast. Laki moves closer and in her hands are the wiki berries he'd discarded in the scuffle.

"Bring Teddiursa along," she tells him, and Law raises a brow, glancing from her to the pokemon. She catches on to his look and snorts. "Do not worry. We don't kill the young."

Well. He supposed he could believe that.

He stuffs the berries into a pocket of his pants and they both move after the others, down the shore and up a less steep portion of the coast in the far west. When they enter into the forest, the two lead them further west, and Law can finally see the forms of the mountains in the distance.

A Luxio trots toward Laki and barks once, and she hums, turning to face it. "I see. Thank you."

"Wh-You can talk to pokemon?" Luffy asks, twisting his head to look back at her. "What did it say?"

"He told me the area is safe. No other danger is present." She smiles. "Not all pokemon. It's different with Luxio and Luxray. They are the partners of the ainu." She turns to smile at Law as well, and he notices when her gaze catches onto his earrings.

They walk until they reach a clearing nestled against the side of a slanted mountain, one end eroded away and circling somewhat around the huts. It had huge patches of sheer rock, bright and blinding in the sunlight that was more prevalent here as the clouds gave way to show the skyline. Most of it was covered in greenery, though, stretching to the top far above them. From behind, taller mountains loomed, and Law could deduce they'd reached the mountain range they'd been trying to head towards.

In the village, an older ainu who introduces himself as Wiper comes to help with the Ursaring. He eyes Law oddly as they move away, leaving Luffy and Munchlax to trot back towards Law and Laki.

"Thank you for your help," she tells them. "Let me take you to the village elder. I'd like for him to meet Teddiursa as well."

Luffy turns to Law, who just shrugs. After a moment, Luffy smiles back at Laki. "Sure, we'd love to."

They're led into a big hut, lit by a fire in the center, nestled down into a small pit in the ground. An elderly man looks up, nodding to Laki. His earrings are partially hidden by his long hair, and his eyes are somewhat shielded by the headband he wore.

"These two were attacked by the Ursaring we brought back," Laki tells him, gesturing to Law and Luffy. "They also helped in bringing it back here." After a moment of eyeing them, he motions for them all to sit. Laki seats herself to his right, while Law and Luffy have a seat on the elder's other side.

"It was angry about this young one?" he asks, and Law nods, glancing down to Teddiursa, who was now asleep.

"It's injured, and we were trying to help it," Law says, voice quiet in the enclosed space. "I guess we got too close. Kamakiri saved us."

"He took down the Ursaring like it was nothing!" Luffy speaks up. "One shot from an arrow and it was down. I've never seen anything like it."

The elder chuckles. "I am chief Suma. Our arrows are coated in poison. It does not take much to bring down even the largest of beasts." From his side, Laki laughs as well.

"Nice to meet you!" Luffy says, and his voice is maybe a little too loud. "My name is Luffy!" In contrast, Law nods, more subdued.

"I'm Law."

Suma nods to them. "I will remember those names. Especially yours." He turns to Law. "You are . . very peculiar. I'm guessing those are not honorary?" He gestures to the earrings. Law shakes his head in reply. "Then I assume you are glad you came to the Battle Zone?"

At those words, Law lets a small smile grace his lips. Suma echoes it, gaze softening. "You could say that."

"We will let Teddiursa rest in the corner." Suma gestures to the space. "While it is asleep, you both are welcome to stay for a meal. In fact, I insist. As thanks for helping carry Ursaring to the village."

At that, it becomes an offer they can't refuse. Not that they would want to. Luffy is hungry, and Law is interested in this village. It was unlike the Fight Area, where ainu and other locals intermingled. This was a more isolated area, and traditions were rooted deep.

Contrary to Luffy's questioning, they're not served the Ursaring meat. They had just brought the pokemon back, and it was nowhere near prepared enough to eat. They wouldn't do that until the next day, and even then, there was another source of food that was plentiful this season.

They're not kept curious for long, as they're served Finneon meat on thin trays. Wiper and Kamakiri move inside the tent to eat as well, along with several other ainu. Law and Luffy are handed small cups of water, and a bowl of rice. Law nibbles on the raw meat, unused to it, while Luffy frowns down at it, then gestures to the pot set over the fire. After being offered, Laki throws in greens and meat from several people's trays, and as everything is simmering, they tell Law and Luffy about the Finneon season.

"It's a sign that summer has arrived," Suma says, setting down his own rice bowl. "The water grows warmer, and Finneon flock to the area in droves. We have other signs of summer, but this is by far the most beneficial."

"We met ainu kids when we first arrived that said huki were in season this time of year." Luffy smiles at the thought of the leaves. "Is that another sign?"

"Yes!" Suma nods. "When the frost melts and the huki blooms, that is indeed another sign. So you came from the south, huh? From Ukoyki, I imagine?"

Luffy blinks, and Law picks up when he spots the confusion. "From the Fight Area. We came from the mainland just today."

"Ah, Ukoyki is our name for that village," Wiper says. "You came from the mainland? What's so important about this place?"

"We're headed to Stark Mountain," Law tells him. Laki, who had been spearing a piece of meat from the pot, pauses in the action to glance at him.

"It's ready," she says after a moment, and everyone takes turns reaching in and pulling out a portion.

"The guardian of the volcano won't appreciate going for no reason," Wiper tells him. Law nods in return.

"We have a good reason."

"Kamuy-huci is a ferocious being," Suma announces. "She resides in the volcano, guarding the hearth, but she won't hesitate to use it to attack as well. If you are indeed going, you must be careful."

Law is faintly surprised that they didn't ask for his reason, instead only forewarning him of the Kamuy, as Olvia had done. The conversation is steered to the taste of the meat, and then back to Teddiursa, who at this point was resting in the corner.

"Are you attached to it?" Laki asks Law. He shakes his head and she turns to the chief. "We should take it in, then."

"I agree," he hums. "It is without a mother now, so that would be for the best."

"Aisa would have liked to raise it," one of the villagers murmurs, and a solemn air settles over the table.

"Perhaps she still will," another one speaks up, voice meek. It's then that Law spies the kimono in the corner of the hut, obviously damaged yet not discarded. He blinks, peering at it.

"Who does that belong to?" he finally asks, gesturing to the robe.

Several of them turn to eye the robe, and then turn back slowly. "Aisa," Laki says. "She only just earned her true name last year, so she is still young. Her mother is dead, and she was an orphan raised by the village." She purses her lips, and her head turns downward as she becomes unable to continue.

"She's been missing for some time now," Kamakiri says, picking up for her. "We . . had a funeral for her, ripped the robe in custom. But it's unusual how she disappeared, and maybe because we hold onto such hope that this means she might one day return, we've refused to finish the ceremony. We can't burn her robe without being sure she won't come back to claim it again."

Kamakiri speaks with a solemn air, and he carries that air with him after the meal is finished, when Law is tending to Teddiursa in the now-empty tent. He glances up from peeling the skin from the juiced wiki berries as the ainu comes in through the front of the tent. Teddiursa yawns from its position on the ground, stretching out its non-injured limbs. Kamakiri nods back and comes closer, taking a seat near Law.

"Laki says you were treating Teddiursa, when Ursaring showed up." He glances down to the wiki juice in Law's bowl. "That's a very interesting method. Where did you learn?"

Law looks back down and continues peeling, laying the skin of the berry onto Teddiursa's cut. "My parents taught me, when I was young." He takes out a persim berry and mashes it into the juice until he has a thick pulp. "I grew up in a small village in Sinnoh. We were isolated, so modern medicine was discarded in favor of more natural remedies."

"It's not just because of isolation." Law glances up at Kamakiri's words. "Your medicinal skills are an ainu practice. You seem very adept, as well. Thank you, for helping Teddiursa." He bows his head. "We will raise it well. I promise."

Law blinks. At this point he's applied the pulp to the rest of Teddiursa's wounds, and he sets the bowl aside. "I don't doubt that. I know Teddiursa's in good hands."

As if it can understand, Teddiursa makes a noise, agreeing. Law smiles down at it, and Kamakiri smiles at him. He gets to his feet and motions for Law to do the same. "Come with me. I'll take you to a river, and you can wash your hands."

In the evening, Law and Luffy attend a bear ceremony. The sky is painted in rich hues, and the large fire in the center of the village compliments it nicely. They stand back from the crowd, content to observe. The Ursaring is skinned and its head cut off. Each of the villagers pass the head around, and the last one places it on a stick. The stick travels back around, and each person takes turns wrapping a piece of the pokemon's fur around the head. The last person takes the stick and plants it in the ground beside the body, and then they chant slowly, looking first to the wrapped head, and then to the bonfire.

That night, the village feasts on Ursaring meat. It's savory, and in this style, unlike anything Law and Luffy have ever experienced. They will not so easily forget this moment.

* * *

Morning comes, the sun's light barely reaching the village over the rise of the mountain and the cover of the clouds. Wiper points out the sheer rockside north of the village, and gestures to the smoke gathered above it. It's just visible in the early light, and Wiper remarks that they hadn't seen it the other day because the volcano was temperamental, the Kamuy only releasing fumes at certain times.

"If you head in the direction of the fumes, you will reach the volcano," Wiper tells them.

Not much later, when the village has gathered, the pair thank them for their hospitality. They're sent off warmly, and they begin their ascent before the sun has fully risen.

"This will be more than a simple hike," Law remarks.

"I've climbed mountains before," Luffy says, grinning. In a rare moment, Law grins back.

"I'll do my best to keep up, then."

When they reach the top of the first hill, they see the land stretched out before them. The mountains very quickly went from sporting vegetation to being barren, something that doesn't escape the pair. They can still make out the fumes in the distance, and they move in that direction, path set.

Not long after venturing into the mountain range, ash begins to fall from the sky. The clouds were thicker here, gathered dark above them. Before the ash becomes too much to bear, they each slip on their ponchos, lessening the load tremendously.

"Remind me to thank Makino again, next time I see her," Law says to Luffy. The trainer smiles back at him so wide his eyes begin to crinkle.

"Absolutely!"

Law's poncho is longer for his taller form, ends coming down to his knees. It's a thick, woven material that does well to protect him not only from the ash, but from the sudden cold as well, as the sun disappears behind the dense cloud cover. Luffy's is shorter, ending around his waist, and was easier for the boy to move around in. Especially when they were going up and down so much, and it was important to be able to have fast reflexes if rock broke off and he lost his handhold.

The mountains are a tedious path to wander. The ash falls thick, and as they scale each mountain, they're careful not to draw the attention of the native, rugged-looking pokemon. Law wasn't willing to test his luck with Rhydon like he had been with the Ursaring, and certainly not on their turf. It's only thanks to Luffy's interference that he doesn't freak out over the sudden appearance of a Rhyperior, the boy settling him as the pokemon's trainer comes into view.

"Oh. This is unusual," he says, catching sight of them. Rhyperior makes a noise and he nods in agreement. "What brings you here?"

"We're on our way to the volcano," Luffy says. "We actually can't find our landmark anymore, do you know what direction it's in?"

"Stark Mountain?" The islander rubs his chin, humming. "No one generally goes there anymore. I can show you, though." He gestures them forward, and leads them to a small ridge. "There, east of here. It's near the eastern edge of the island, so you'll know you're near when you can see the ocean."

They thank him and he warns them of the coming heat in the area before departing. They're moving down another mountain when Law speaks up again.

"About Aisa . ." Luffy moves his head to look at him. "I feel like we might find her, there. She's very close to their base, and for her to just disappear is strange."

"We don't know enough about her. She could have just run away." Luffy shakes his head when Law moves to protest. "But, I believe you. The situation is too much of a coincidence." He sighs. "Looks like we have more than just Shanks to rescue now."

Their path gets easier to traverse, a couple mountains formed closely together providing a snaking path that prevents them from going too far down and back up again. This close, they can clearly see the fumes gathering, dark and heavy. The falling ash grows thicker.

The first symbol they see carved into the rock is when Law notices the heat. Neither him nor Luffy can make sense of it, so they elect to ignore it and continue on the path. But they see more as they go along, and soon the heat becomes a crawling thing, and they can't discern where the source it because it's _everywhere_, and then the path starts forking off.

At one point Luffy leads, and he just so happens to take them down a path that they can see a symbol further down. When it happens again, Law stops them and questions this.

"They're leading us," Luffy says, gesturing to the latest symbol. "The path is confusing enough, so why wouldn't we use a marker?"

That was fair. He wouldn't complain about that.

"We should have a look around when we reach the volcano," Law says. "We don't know anything about this place, and much less on what we're up against. It might be smart to corner a hunter, question them for information."

"We have allies, too," Luffy reminds him. "Sabo's there, but there are three others. The letter said if we heard two, goldenweek, or Komala."

"That's right." Law hums. "I wonder . . Do you think they could be codes? Or what they go by undercover?"

"It could be either."

"Then we should wait to act after hearing one," Law deduces. "Just in case there are double meanings. We don't want to expose anyone if we can help it."

Luffy grins. "You mean, until they have no choice."

He sighs. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it." After all, if they were raiding the place, there wouldn't be much use in playing undercover agent.

The path leads them up, and the ash grows thick. It opens to a wider area, and fumes rise, heavy, from a pit of lava below them. They skirt around it as much as they can, lifting the fabric of their ponchos over their mouths to avoid inhaling the gases. The only path away from the lava leads them to an entrance in the rock. They crouch down near it, behind a section of dark stone, and it doesn't take long at all for a guard to come out.

Definitely someone working in the hunter group. Their clothing was too modern from anything the ainu or other locals wore, and it was awfully dark, too.

Law's just thinking this when Luffy stands up and rushes the man, tackling him to the ground. Law moves in after him, not bothering to conceal his annoyance, and together they wrestle the pokemon hunter to the ground.

He lets out a shout and brings up a wrist communicator to his face. "Intruders! I need back-" His voice is cut off as his skull knocks into a stone, rendering him unconscious. Law _tch_s and has Luffy help him drag the body out of sight, where they had hidden before. Luckily, the man wasn't that heavy, and between the two of them the task is quick. Which is good, because it would be very unfortunate if backup were to arrive to see them. So far they weren't being very stealthy. Hopefully the hunter had addressed a specific person and not the entire organization, so they would still have some form of secrecy in their infiltration.

Footsteps make Law look up to peer out from the cover of the rock, and he spots a woman dash out of the opening, whipping her head around. She wears a bandana over her mouth, and one of her hands reaches up to jerk it down, the other raising the same wrist communicator the man had had.

"This is Goldenweek, I'm on the scene." She narrows her eyes and taps the communicator. "Hey, respond! Where-" She stops and Law's breath catches as they both hear the same sound -the scratchy voice coming through the still-on communicator of the hunter they had with them. Law ducks his head down as she spins toward them, and he hisses in distress, reaching out to snag the communicator, but it's too late.

The woman appears before them, hands on her hips and bandana re-tied to her face, hiding everything but her narrowed eyes. She's dressed sharply, in the dark colors they'd seen on other hunters, and it's easy to spot the ash as it collects on the fabric. A pokeball is already in her hand, and after having a stare down with the two for a few moments, she lifts her wrist communicator back to her mouth.

Luffy acts first, scrambling up and throwing himself at her, catching her wrist and jerking it away. "Don't!" he shouts, voice frantic. "We're- you're Goldenweek?" Her eyes narrow further as she tugs at her wrist, choosing not to reply. The pokeball opens and a Politoed is released at her side. Luffy shakes his head, releasing her and putting a hand to his chest. "I'm Luffy!"

Law stands at this, lips pursed. Goldenweek had been one of the three codes, but he'd _said_ to wait if they heard one, and Luffy just had to-

Goldenweek gestures for her pokemon to stand down and slowly lowers her communicator. Her eyes are still slits as she turns to look at the unconscious hunter, and then back to Luffy. After another moment she sighs. "You're too close to the entrance. Come on, help me move him."

As mildly shocking as her words are, they don't stop the pair from acting immediately. The three of them drag the body further out of sight, away from both the lava pit and the mountain entrance. Once they're situated and better concealed, she turns back on her communicator.

"Goldenweek. The threat has been neutralized. I'll patrol for a bit to make sure everything is secure."

After she's done, she tugs down the bandana, so her words are no longer muffled by the fabric. "I'm Marianne," she tells them. She sighs again and takes a seat on the rock, seemingly unbothered by its heated state. "You-" She points to Luffy. "You shouldn't be here."

"I have to help Shanks," Luffy said, conviction in his tone. Marianne purses her lips and they have another silent battle of wills. She shakes her head after a few moments.

"We're not ready to move yet. Plus, the situation surrounding him is too unclear. We don't even know what exactly-"

"We have other reasons, then," Law interrupts, seeing they wouldn't win with that argument. Marianne cocks her head to him, one of her pigtails falling over her shoulder. "There's a little girl. Her name is Tama. Her grandmother lives on the mainland, and a while back, she was kidnapped. The prime suspect is Caesar Clown."

Her brows raise. "A kid? That-" She shakes her head. "Are you sure?"

"Apparently her Gible was a pokemon Caesar wanted."

She sighs. "That sounds like the director. Even if she is . . a kid . . ." She shakes her head again. "Okay, say I believe you. You're here to get the girl and go?"

Law and Luffy share a glance. "Not . . exactly," Luffy says.

"None of us knew about kids," Marianne mutters. "There was just the captive man, your Shanks, and the captive woman, a bargaining chip with the champion. So you're here for Shanks and the kid, then?"

"A little more than that," Law says.

She stands, returning Politoed and pulling out another pokeball. "I don't like the idea of leaving a kid in there any more than necessary." She gestures to the space around them. "And it's not like you can camp out here and wait until we're ready. The climate's too dangerous." Her smile is small, but sharp. "Why do you think the base is _in_ the volcano, rather than on it?"

Luffy breathes out a sigh of relief. "Sabo said you would help us. I'm glad he was right."

She shakes her head. "_Sabo_ is not going to be happy with me." Her smile morphs into a smirk. "But to hell with it, I'm doing it anyway. Let me explain the plan."

Her group, consisting of her, Sabo, and two others, had been infiltrating this particular hunter organization for a while now. They'd lied low, gathering information. Apparently there were strings being pulled from the shadows, because there was more going on than capturing and selling rare pokemon. The director, Caesar, had been gathering strong pokemon as of late and using them in experiments the four weren't currently privy to. Komala had gotten the closest, but her information was vague, only being on the project title: Persuasion.

They'd planned on securing files on the project and questioning the woman the group had captive, but doing either had been too risky. No one quite knew where the woman was being held, and her position changed, too. Project Persuasion was being conducted in the lowest chambers of the base, in Caesar's personal labs, so security was tight. Going after either lead would no doubt expose them, so they had to make sure everything was set beforehand.

"If we're not careful, being caught could mean becoming a part of Project Persuasion ourselves," Marianne reveals. "And our leader wouldn't appreciate his own goals being halted to come help us out, especially when he trusted us to take the hunters down ourselves." She looks to them both carefully, then releases her second pokemon, a Smeargle that immediately wraps its form around her midriff. "Now. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to Shanks." Luffy's fists are clenched at his side. "I don't know why they have him, but I know he came for Tama, and he's been missing since. He needs help. Plus, I'm worried about his pokemon now. They're pretty strong, so this director guy might have taken them."

She shrugs. "That's a possibility."

"I'm confronting Caesar directly," Law says. "We have history, and I know he's done some unsavory things in the past. Whatever project he's a part of now, it can't be good."

"The director isn't a pushover," Marianne warns him. Law smirks, and his hand wanders to one of his own pokeballs.

"I'm pretty strong myself."

"Then I'll leave him to you. Your hands will be full with that, so I'll help you out and secure Tama." She presses a hand to her heart. "You have my word on that. I even know where her Gible might be, so I'll secure her pokemon as well."

Marianne tugs off one of her shoes and balances on one foot. She rips out the sole from the bottom and digs until she pulls out a button. It pops out into a small communicator, and she flips it on. "This is M. I've come across two . . ." She smiles at Law and Luffy. "Allies. The situation has changed. I'm commencing the plan in three minutes. Make sure you're in a position to begin by that time." She doesn't wait for a reply, instead stuffing her shoe back on and sliding the button into a pocket on her outfit.

"There are two access codes." They're all three before the entrance now, and she reaches to a keypad to type one in. "The first is Grimer, like the pokemon. The second is 0-4-0-9."

"Isn't that today's date?" Law asks. Marianne nods and steps back as the keypad blinks, and the gate before them slides open.

"I don't know the significance, just that it's a passcode. Remember them, you'll need them." She gestures for Smeargle to jump down and the pokemon scampers a few feet ahead, sniffing the air. She turns to face the two, and her eyes have hardened again. "Another thing. There's a legendary pokemon that makes its home in Stark Mountain. Its name is Heatran, and it's very against the hunters being here." She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment. "We originally assumed the director's goal was to locate the Magma Stone to awaken it, but that appears to not be the case. Still, if he feels threatened, he might remove the Magma Stone to summon Heatran as a distraction. We can't let that happen. The volcano will erupt."

Then Heatran was undoubtedly the Kamuy of the hearth the ainu of the Battle Zone worshipped. Law and Luffy nod, growing more serious as the threat is laid on them. Luffy releases Driftzel, while Law lets out Aegislash, and all three pass through the open gate. Marianne guides them to a path that splits, and then does her best to give them directions to where their goals might be.

"Good luck," she nods to them. "Be prepared -everything starts now."

With that, they all split up.

* * *

Back when he was a child, Lami often told him she admired his resilience.

When she passed, he kept those words close. They enabled him to stand again, to not succumb to grief. To keep working as, one by one, everyone he ever knew dropped dead. He remembered those words as he spent the night on a lonely beach in Alola, frightened and frustrated, yet determined to rise the next morning and push on. It's what kept him moving after Corazon fell, after Sylveon sacrificed herself, as Oricorio pushed him to the hidden exit. Law's resilience drove him to seek out Tapu Bulu, despite all the warning signs, and give himself one last chance for a new start.

And it was Law's resilience now that had him deliberately marching into the clutches of an old enemy. Because this time, he was going to make things right.

His feet carry him in the directions Marianne had given him, down and over and twisting this way and that, letting the volcano's structure guide him. The science wing was down deep, and out of the three, he would have the furthest to go to reach it. He pulls himself away from a cross section upon spotting a couple hunters, ducking back behind the corner. They mumbled something that caught his attention, and as they move on, he rises to follow them.

They lead him down, deeper into the volcano, and the air gets drier as they go, the heat picking up as opposed to the cold one would usually get when going deeper into the earth. When they stop going down he assumes they've reached the correct floor, and after confirming the coast is clear, he no longer bothers to conceal himself.

"Aegislash," he calls out, gesturing for his pokemon to come forward. The two hunters turn around, caught off guard. "Night slash."

Aegislash drops its shield and lashes out, darting past the two hunters. They fall to the ground and Law nods in satisfaction, moving forward to step past them.

When he steps into the science wing proper, he has to take a moment to gather himself. He's no longer here with an egg in his arms, running for his life. He knows this, but his hands still shake, eyes still unfocus.

The labs are the most high tech place Law has ever seen in his life. The paneling built into the rocks gleamed white and made the area look more like a building than an active volcano. In fact, the only thing really giving off that impression was the stifling heat that blew through. Law wonders, briefly, how close this was to the center. Then he turns to the first door and taps out the code, letting it slide open.

At first glance, the room is empty. It's not until his eyes land on the far right side that he sees the giant plexiglass cages. The barren state has him curious, but he pushes it aside in favor of what was in front of him, hurrying over to investigate.

The pokemon in the cages are huge, easily towering over Law. They seem to be in pretty bad condition, too. One of them, the Tyranitar, twitches and opens its eyes. It catches sight of Law and immediately rises, letting out a pained screech that has Law stepping back. The Tyranitar begins to bang on the glass, obviously trying to get out, and lets out another scream. The sound wakes the Magmortar in the other cage, and the two are thrown into a frenzy, beating on the glass, their eyes fixed on Law.

He steps back, but he's not afraid. Not for himself, anyway. It was clear by their looks that they weren't after him. They wanted out.

Law steps forward as their violent frenzy agitates their injuries. He holds his hands up slowly, until he's right in front of the cages, trying not to flinch from the vibrations. "It's alright," he says, voice calm. "I'll-I'll get you out. Okay? Just relax."

His words don't seem to have that much of an obvious effect, but when Aegislash comes forward, the two pokemon step back slightly. "Can you cut the lock?" Law asks, and moves aside to let his pokemon try.

Aegislash hovers for a moment, eyeing the cages, and then assumes a position. It tries a slash attack, but that doesn't do anything. It lets out a sound and the two pokemon back up further, and then it tries using sacred sword, slamming into the lock with the point on its head.

The lock comes away not even scratched. It leaves Law's head spinning. What were these things made of?

He shakes his head. "Okay. I'll go look for the switch. There's gotta be one. I promise, okay?"

The pokemon seem reluctant to let him leave, but don't stop him, either. Or, well, not that they could stop him, but they don't protest. He takes that in stride and heads to the door, frown set on his face.

* * *

Luffy doesn't hesitate to charge down the corridors of the base, Driftzel running at his side. He's not met without opposition for being so direct, of course, hunters rising up to meet him when they see a kid that obviously didn't belong. He skids on his heels when one sends out a Stunky, leaving Driftzel to run ahead, and calls for a crunch attack. Stunky and the hunter are replaced by a Croagunk, Luffy recognizing the pokemon from his time in Pastoria. It aims a sucker punch at Driftzel, but Luffy's pokemon is fast, and it takes no effort to dodge to the side and slam an aqua tail onto the poison-type, rendering it unconscious.

They continue pelting through the maze of rock and Luffy tugs on the bandana wrapped around his neck, the heat becoming a little stifling. Driftzel calls out ahead of him and he looks up to see a hunter waiting, Golbat hovering in the air above.

It uses air cutter and Driftzel hunkers down, holding its head and taking cover. Luffy is not so lucky, unable to stop his momentum, and the attack rockets into him, swiping him off his feet. He crashes into the rock with a howl, but he's always been quick to recover, and he scrambles to his knees before long, holding his midsection. "Geh," he spits, eye twitching. The hunter before him laughs and calls out for Golbat to use venoshock. The pokemon screeches in response and flies in closer, and Luffy takes his chance.

"Driftzel, whirlpool!" he calls out, and Driftzel responds immediately, dropping to all fours and opening its mouth, a giant vortex of water forming. Golbat, coming in fast, slams into the water. It's caught too, spinning around in the center and flapping its wings.

"Now use ice fang," Luffy orders. Driftzel jumps into the air, right to the center of the vortex, and Golbat screeches as the attack lands, freezing a portion of its body. Driftzel slams its tail into Golbat's side and the whirlpool dissipates when Golbat is forced out of it, slamming into the wall.

When Driftzel lands, its body begins to glow, and Luffy jumps to his feet with a gasp. The glow fades before long, and his Driftzel is now finally a Floatzel.

But he doesn't have much time to celebrate. The hunter eeps, fumbling with a pokeball to return Golbat. Luffy darts for him, and the hunter screams again in distress, moving to run away but slipping on the water still on the floor. Luffy uses the moment and reaches out, grabbing the hunter's shoulder and slamming him into the wall. He pins him there with an arm and Floatzel rushes to his side, growling at the hunter.

"Where are you keeping Shanks?" Luffy growls. "Tell me!"

"I-I don't know!" the hunter stammers out. "I don't even know who that is!"

"Try to remember." Luffy applies more pressure with his arm, and the hunter cries out again, nodding frantically.

"M-maybe, well, the director went to see someone in the east quadrant. That could be where your friend is! I mean, I don't know for sure, but that's my g -Ack!"

Luffy slams his head against the wall, hard, and the hunter drops to the ground, out cold. He breathes out, working to unclench his fists. "It's hot," he mutters to Floatzel, and his pokemon gestures to his poncho. Luffy nods, taking it off and moving to stuff it in his bag. When he stands again, they rush off to the named section, and he takes a moment to smile at Floatzel. "Good timing! I was starting to wonder when you would evolve."

Floatzel lets out a noise in agreement, a version of its own cunning smile on its face. Luffy laughs in response, then turns back to watch where he was going. His smile only slightly slips as he realizes what a mess he's left in his wake.

Well. Subtlety was never his strong suit.

* * *

The next lab Law enters is more of a sectioned-off corridor than a big room. He can tell that much, despite it being dark. Multiple groans echo out as the door opens and light is cast into the space, so he shuts it back when he's entered.

This triggers lights to switch on overhead, though they're very dim. Law's eyes widen, breath momentarily stolen as he beholds the sight.

Two long rows of dirty, rusted cages are revealed in the light. Each contained one adult in varying states of distress, from what he could see. He finally breaks from his shock and moves to one of the cages, crouching down in front of it. There's a person sitting in the back, leaning against the bars. Her head is tilted, and her mouth is open slightly. "H-Hey," Law says, waving a hand, trying to get her attention. One of her eyes twitches.

The others are very much the same, not responsive at all. He moves before each cage, going down the rows and trying to figure out what was wrong. An older man lies on his side, fingers of his left hand tapping against the rough ground. He doesn't seem like the act bothers him at all, and as Law spots the bruises on his fingertips, he questions how long he had been repeating the action.

Another man sits in the middle of a cage, humming every few seconds. Law raises a hand and snaps his fingers, right before the man's face. Though he's looking at Law, his eyes are blank. He just keeps humming.

Another's eyes track Law as he moves, pausing to sit in front of their cage. He waves his hand in greeting. "What happened to you?" he asks.

No response.

Law blinks, repeats the question. He frowns, moves to stand up. Again, their eyes follow his movements, like they were acknowledging what was going on, but weren't able to act on it.

Most of them seemed more than just dazed, though. There are several Law moves past that looked like they'd been tossed in and hadn't moved since. They lie there with their eyes open, just barely breathing. It was almost like they were brain-dead. He shivers at the thought.

There's only one, a thin, wiry man near the back, that acknowledges Law. He's pressed to the back of the cage, legs curled to his chest, rocking side to side. His head moves up as Law crouches down to peer at him, their eyes locking. Law opens his mouth to ask a question, but then the man starts crying. And not just that, he truly becomes a blubbering mess.

"I-I wanna get out of here!" he wails. "Let me -please -I have to get out!"

"Wh-" Law breaks off, deciding on another question. "What is this place?"

"These are holding cells," the man spouts. He jerks his head, gesturing to the others. "All of them were taken in for experimentation at one point. It was- something to do w-with persuasion?"

Law's lips purse. That was the name of the project, the one Marianne had mentioned.

"I overheard at one point that there were going to be younger test subjects, too." The man starts crying again, unable to go on. "Probably after they're out, after they get through me!"

That wasn't good. His mind turns to Tama, to Aisa. If they wanted Tama for her rare pokemon, then they needed Aisa for something else. Was that what this was about? Gathering young kids to-

He halts the thought before it can finish, switching tracks to avoid stressing himself out. "Okay. Listen, I'll get you out. I will, but I promised the pokemon in the other lab that I would help them first-"

He doesn't get in much after that, because the man suddenly sits up and throws himself into the front of the cage, crashing into the bars. He reaches out the holes and grabs Law's poncho, yanking him closer. "You can't! It's a trap!"

Law's brows raise. "Explain."

"They're trained to do that. I used to be a pokemon hunter here, before I found those pokemon. I wasn't gonna release them, of course, but I'm not heartless, y'know? I thought I could just make it easier for them, make their situation more bearable. But that was what _they_ looked for. People with compassion. Those are the types of people they wanted for the project." He shakes his head, and his hands fall away from Law, releasing him. He falls back, shaking his head again. "And I heard that the director's with the most promising subject now."

* * *

The sound of a door opening wakes Marguerite.

She'd been lying on the ground, but as someone approaches, she moves further back in the cell. A woman crouches down outside the bars, looking at her, and Marguerite narrows her eyes, her lips pulling back in a snarl.

"Hey. I'm Koala. How are you holding up?"

"Why would _you_ care?" Marguerite spits.

In response, Koala sighs and takes a seat proper. She digs in her pocket and pulls out a ring of keys, holding them up for Marguerite to see. "I'm supposed to be here to bring you food." She smirks as she sees Marguerite's expression morph, changing into suspicion, and then disbelief. "But I think I'm going to help you escape, instead. That sound good?"

* * *

"Director, sir!"

"_What_ is it? I'm busy!"

"Sir, there's an intruder in the base! Reports say he's heading here, that he's looking for the subject."

"Oh?" The director's lips pull into a frown. "Interesting." He settles back into his seat. "Let him come, then. I want to see what happens."

He smirks.

"Perhaps it's time for another test."

There's only one room in this sector, and Luffy wastes no time in bursting in. It opens into a huge white-paneled chamber, and immediately, Luffy zeroes in on Shanks.

His mentor is cuffed to a chair on the far side of the room. Luffy can hear his heavy breathing from where he stands. Shanks is bent forward, head hung and scraggly hair hanging limply over his face.

"S-Sha-" Luffy breaks off, taking another moment to gather in the sight. Shanks lifts his head, looking back at Luffy, and his face is gaunt, bags under his eyes heavy. Still, there's a spark of recognition there, enough to make his lips move, though no words come out.

"Shanks!" Luffy calls out. His feet move again, and he moves closer, face pained at the sight. But he doesn't get far before Shanks raises a hand to stop him. The longer chain enables him to just do this, but he can't move it further than the arm of the chair.

Luffy does stop, although he's not sure why. It wasn't like-

All of a sudden, Shanks cries out. He throws his head back with enough force that it bangs into the headboard, gasping at the impact. Behind Luffy, the door slides shut and beeps, a confirmation that it'd been locked. He turns back at the sound to see it, eyes widening.

At the same time, Shanks' still-outstretched hand begins to glow as the aura moves around it. Luffy doesn't have time to process what's happening before he's slammed into the wall.

He can't even cry out, breath stolen from him. Luffy slumps to the ground, stunned, and an indentation is left in the wall. He tries to gasp, but it's difficult, and everything hurts.

The cuffs binding Shanks are released, unlocking and leaving him to fall as well, landing face-first on the floor with a huff. At this point Floatzel has already ran over and positioned herself in front of Luffy, set on protecting him. Her ears perk as Shanks rises, but there's something different now. His hair is still matted, tangled, and his cheeks are still sunken in. He still looks worse-for-wear, and he's still breathing heavily.

But his eyes are blank. More than that, they're empty, unseeing.

Luffy reaches out an arm, lets it land heavily on the floor. His chin is cushioned against the paneling, lifting his face up. He's still gasping, but he talks through it. "Shanks, w-what's going on?" His other arm moves, shaky, and he works to prop himself up, barely getting his legs underneath him. "What did they do to you?" he cries out.

Shanks doesn't respond. Instead, he unclips a pokeball and releases his Lucario. "Bone club," he orders, and Lucario moves forward with impressive speed. Floatzel rushes to meet him and Luffy shuffles, reaching forward again.

"W-Wait!" he calls. "Stop! Lucario, it's me! It's Luffy! What-" He stops, pushing both hands to the ground and rising to his knees. His arms are jerky, shaking from the effort. Lucario lashes out with the bone again and Floatzel works hard to block, to keep up. Her speed was always her strong suit, but Lucario's was always superior. "Lucario!" Luffy calls out again, but the pokemon doesn't even acknowledge him.

Luffy's jaw falls open as he realizes this. Why didn't Lucario respond? Did he not recognize Luffy? But that couldn't be right. Luffy had known Lucario long before he'd known any of his _own_ pokemon.

Floatzel is overpowered before much longer, knocked across the floor. Luffy throws out a hand as Lucario rushes after her and concentrates, gathering aura. It's a split-second decision, and he doesn't realize he's done it until Lucario's movements are halted and he's scrabbling, limbs moving but body stuck.

Luffy frowns. "No, that was too easy," he says, voicing his thoughts aloud. Was he seeing things? Lucario was halted, but- "There should've been more resistance," he realizes. "Lucario's stronger with aura than me, but . ."

"We're not far enough along to control the pokemon's aura."

The voice is loud, coming from a speaker in the ceiling overhead. Luffy throws his head up, frowning as he takes in the words. His gaze moves around until he spies the pane of glass high up on the room's other side. A very pale figure stood behind it, looking down at him. From behind him, a few people move about, and Luffy realizes it was a viewing pane, a way to observe the room.

"Welcome!" The man says, voice loud. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the director here, Caesar Clown. You're very peculiar, you know? I never would have imagined _another_ aura user would present themself to me."

He gasps suddenly, and it's drawn out in a way that's obviously fake. "Wait! Are you, perhaps, Shanks here's student?"

"Let him go!" Luffy shouts. "Let Shanks go!"

Caesar only laughs, a shrill sound ringing out from the speakers.

* * *

The last lab is by far the biggest.

Multiple bookshelves lined one side, cramped together and tightly packed. There was a long table placed before one, some paper strewn about. On the other side of the room was a cluster of different machines. Law couldn't even begin to guess what they all did. Two catwalks high above Law's head were on either side, leading to an elevated panel that covered half the room. The walkways are grated, and there wasn't any sort of catch on the side not against the wall, meaning it was very possible to fall off. There weren't any stairs to get to them, either, but Law steps further into the room and turns around to see they went into the wall, so the access must have been from a separate room.

The panel they lead to had transparent flooring, so Law can make out everything it housed from his position on the ground floor. If he had to guess, he would say it was definitely where all the research was stored.

He wanders over to one of the bookshelves, pulling his poncho over his shoulders as he goes. The heat was beginning to get to him. A quick scan of the titles reveals many were about psychic-type pokemon and their various abilities. That was . . interesting.

Aegislash gathers his attention and Law turns to see it gesturing to a loose stack of paper on the far side of the table. He hums, walking over and picking it up. Right there, at the top, said it was a report of the third stage of Project Persuasion. He frowns, glancing to the panel above and wondering why it wasn't there. Maybe someone had been -oh, yep, there it was. There were notes added to later pages, things scribbled into the margins. Multiple sections were crossed out or corrected for inaccuracies, and in particular a 'test six' was referenced as a source for why this report on the stage three was partially incorrect.

It's not until he gets to the last pages and sees the list of goals accomplished and planned for that he realizes what the project truly entailed -what the specific purpose was.

His lips are pulled apart, and his hands loosen enough so that the sheets flutter back to the table. That couldn't be right, and yet, hadn't he been greeted with the evidence already? The failures, and the fear, and the consequences. And then he realizes what all the complications Sabo had referenced in his letter referred to. Why it was so important that they weren't caught, weren't given a chance to be turned on. It was because, if the project was truly on the route of progress it seemed to be on, that once they were captured they would get no chance to spring free.

Not when you were dealing with mind control.

* * *

Caesar doesn't answer Luffy's question.

Instead, he grows pensive, and waves an arm through the air. "Shanks, put Lucario away. It's not needed."

Luffy observes as Shanks follows through, his movements almost mechanical. Lucario goes back in his pokeball and Luffy's form goes slack without anything to hold down. He casts a glance to Floatzel, who's trying to stand at this point. Well, at least they were safe from-

"We don't need any _weak_ pokemon, though," Caesar says. He scoffs, turning to glare at Floatzel. "Get rid of it, Shanks."

Luffy's breathing hiccups at the words and then he's watching as Shanks holds his hands close, energy gathering between his palms. Luffy's eyes widen, because that's an aura sphere forming, there's no questioning it. "Floatzel, move!" he shouts, but at the same moment, his pokemon collapses.

His body moves on its own.

He's diving for Floatzel just as Shanks finishes forming the attack and fires it straight at them. It slams into Luffy, and the force is enough to send him careening into Floatzel, tossing them both across the room.

Caesar is laughing again as Luffy turns himself over. It's the only sound he can distinguish aside from his labored breathing, his ears still muffled. He heaves himself to his elbows, forearms shaking violently from the effort. His eyes turn to see Floatzel passed out, and then his head ducks as his wheezing turns to coughs, and then there's blood on the ground.

He turns to glare up at Caesar, his ears ringing now, but it doesn't last long. Reaching for the correct pokeball, Luffy returns Floatzel. "Thanks, buddy," he mumbles, coughing at the end of the sentiment.

"Hmm. On second thought, I don't need another test subject." Caesar grins, and it stretches up both cheeks, pulling taut on the skin. "Shanks. Kill that boy."

Luffy's breath stutters as the ringing dies down and he hears those last words. He scrambles to prop himself up on his knees, limbs straining. Shanks fires off another aura sphere and Luffy expands his aura to create a shield. The effort leaves him gasping, and he falls back onto an elbow.

The shield flickers when the attack hits, but serves to block it, the sphere deflected to some other part of the room. Luffy's too busy watching his shield shatter to pay attention to the impact. Guess that's all he can do. He wonders if he can do another, if it would last long enough to block.

"Ah, you do have some skill, then!" Caesar says. "It's too bad _you have to die!"_

Luffy lowers his head, breathing deep. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't-

An alarm suddenly fills the room, blaring out loudly. Luffy opens his eyes and lifts his head a little to see the room flashing red. There's a flurry of movement from the panel.

"_Why_ is the alarm going off?" Caesar questions, turning from Luffy and Shanks to the panel's other occupants.

"It's the alarm to the laboratory, sir! There's been a break in!"

Caesar's fist comes down to bash against the wall. "There had better not be any _more_ intruders here!" he shouts. "Go make sure of it!" Everyone scrambles out, leaving him alone. He casts a glance out the window then turns from it in a huff. "I'll go see to the lab myself."

* * *

Law covers his ears as the alarm begins to ring out, loud in the enclosed space. "Shit."

He moves the papers around on the table, looking for a switch he might've knocked. Then he scans the walls, going further back in the lab, but there was nothing to trigger, much less turn off. It must've been a delayed reaction to entering the lab, then.

Aegislash gets Law's attention and he moves back to the front of the room. The ghost-type guides him to a keypad on the wall beside the door, camouflaged to an extent, and he wastes no time in entering the number code. The room immediately goes silent, the red light fading, and Law breathes out a sigh of relief, letting his hand fall away.

Then he turns sharply, heading back to the table, and swings his pack off his shoulders. It would be easier to move around this way. He grabs some of the papers and moves back over to the machines, figuring he could look into them, because obviously this was the room Marianne and her group had been searching for. But with the alarm going off, he definitely didn't have much time now until someone showed up. He'd have to hurry.

The sound of the door opening behind him throws Law off-guard. His hands grow slack as Aegislash is blasted to the far wall and knocked unconscious, papers slipping to the floor. He turns his head to see Caesar standing in the doorway.

"Who the hell are you?" Caesar exclaims. "And how on earth did you get in?" He moves further into the room and Law backs up, keeping his distance. A Gengar floats in behind Caesar, mouth pulled into a lopsided grin. That explained what happened to Aegislash, then.

He returns Aegislash and straightens out his form, tugging out a new pokeball. "Perfect," he mumbles, eyeing Caesar in a new light. His initial approach had thrown Law off-guard, but he had been after the scientist from the beginning. This was his chance.

"You want a battle?" Caesar says, looking to the pokeball. "Fine." He gestures for Gengar to come closer.

"No." Law taps the pokeball, expanding it. "What I want from you is _far_ more personal."

His sixth pokemon, unlike all his others, appears from its ball with a roar. Law is used to it, but the action has Caesar and Gengar frowning. The light fades and before them all stands Silvally, proud and tall, eyes fixed dead ahead at their opponents.

* * *

"_They said there was one, her name is Tama, for sure. But they thought there might be one more, and with that, I'm gonna guess there are a few of them. I'm on my way to get a Gible and I'll meet you there. Just radio me when you find it."_

Bon Clay sighs as he rounds another corner and has to step back to avoid being swept away by the mass of people scrambling in the opposite direction. They were all confused, and they were all very much trying to find intruders that were hiding right under their noses. He smirks as he slips between the last of them and dashes down the hallway. _Literally_ right under their noses.

He _finally_ finds the room he'd been seeking out and ducks inside, shutting the door behind him before he's noticed. The lights were on, the fluorescent almost blinding, and he winces when he thinks on how long they had been kept on like this. When he turns around, he's greeted to the sight of three little girls eyeing him warily.

"Hi." He offers them a small wave. "Uhh. So. Which one of you is Tama?"

One of the girls tips her head, her long pigtails flipping over. "They took her out. A while ago." She squints. "Shouldn't you-"

Bon sighs. He'd have to radio Marianne and tell her there was one missing -and their golden egg, at that. He crouches down and the three's attention is solely on him. His does his best to give them a reassuring smile. "I'm here to get you out. To get you _home_. Okay? My name is Bon Clay. Can you tell me your names?"

* * *

The moment the panel is emptied and they're no longer being observed, Luffy turns to Shanks and shouts for him to snap out of it.

"This isn't like you!" He calls out. "Come to your senses! It's me! It's Luffy!"

Shanks doesn't respond. He doesn't show any sign that he had even heard Luffy, which is troubling. He moves closer as Luffy finally crumples, knees no longer able to hold his weight, but even his footsteps are mechanical, like he's just a machine following orders.

One of Luffy's pokeballs pops open to reveal Aipom. The monkey pokemon puts itself between Shanks and Luffy, determination written all over its face.

Luffy grits his teeth and tries his best to get his knees under him again. He's wary at best over Shanks' approach, and if he was still lying on the floor by the time he crossed the room -well. That wouldn't be good.

Shanks actually pauses once Aipom appears, but it's only to release Lucario again. Luffy pushes himself up on his shaky arms as the pokemon clash. "You have the strongest will I've ever seen, Shanks!" he shouts. "You can pull through! Whatever they're doing, whatever _he's_ doing, you can fight it! You have to fight it!"

But even as he says the words, he begins to doubt. Surely, it had not been easy to break Shanks. The hold they had on him must have been tremendously strong. Which means, it would be difficult to snap him out of it.

Luffy's barely back on his feet as Chimchar appears, scampering off to help Aipom. Luffy's momentarily distracted by the act, so Shanks projecting his aura makes him tense up. He feels dizzy, and he's slow to react as Shanks charges him. A hand curls around Luffy's throat, and he's lifted off his feet in the chokehold. Luffy's lips part as he tries to suck in a breath with little effort. His hands come up to curl around Shanks' fingers, trying to pry them off. When that doesn't work, he kicks out with his legs, remembering how beat up Shanks had looked when he first saw him. It works, Shanks crumbling just enough to drop Luffy, who lands hard on the floor.

Shanks is kneeling as Luffy flips over, gasping. He hadn't kicked hard, either. Shanks was . . really injured, then.

"What did they do to you?" he whispers. Then another aura wave is bearing down on him, and a rush of scenes cloud his vision.

"What your team is doing is _despicable_," Shanks spits, bangs falling into his face. He's locked back against another chair, and Caesar stands over him, laughing.

"You think I don't know _exactly_ what I'm doing?" he answers, lips pulling into a grin.

It fades, and then he feels like he's drowning, the air leaving him as the water fills, two things killing him at once. Shanks feels like he's drowning, too.

He can't see anything of the physical world, pulled too far into the reaches of his mind. Ghostly hands pry at the wards there, pushing against them, trying to get past. It takes all his effort to gather himself again, pushing back with little success, and then pushing with his aura against the invader.

A sharp cry snaps him back to reality.

Everyone that had been gathered around him were now on the ground, unconscious. The room was in a state of disarray, papers strewn about, tools embedded in the walls, a piece of equipment upturned. Shanks takes a deep breath and moves his hands, still bound to the chair, curls them into fists to ground himself. He calms his heavy breathing down enough to glare at Caesar from where he stood in the corner of the room, looking at him with rage in his eyes.

A grin makes its way to his lips. Shanks can't resist saying his next words. "You'll never have my mind."

Gengar is in front of him, red eyes far too near, and Shanks braces himself for what was to come.

But even expecting it doesn't prepare him for the reality of the air being pried from his mouth. His pupils begin to dilate as he's deprived of oxygen, and even trying to deepen his breathing doesn't help this time. His head tips back, eyes rolling, and Gengar cackles before him, fingers still twitching as it drew the air further from Shanks.

He passes out, the natural response to being asphyxiated for too long.

His consciousness wanders. He can't keep anything straight, not when those red eyes were prying deep into his mind. They look around, but more than that, they attempt to tamper with things, and there's nothing he can do. Shanks is strong, his aura is _strong_, but the more he stares into those red eyes, the more he feels himself beginning to slip. Ghostly hands curl around the wards and pry and _pry_ until they finally fall apart-

He wakes with a scream.

Everything is dark. He's strapped to a cold surface, on his back, different from the chair he was used to. It takes a long moment to realize that he's back in reality, that the darkness around him wasn't his mind, but a product of the environment.

He lies there for a long time.

His breathing calms down. Then his eyes wander, trying to pick up on anything in the space to help him place his surroundings. It feels like he lies there for hours before it clicks to use aura to identify where things were, and his brows furrow. Why didn't he think of that sooner?

But it's a fruitless effort. He tries, but his aura is weak, not retaining shape or sending back any information. As far as Shanks knows, he's in an empty room, or a wide open space. His heart rate picks up again. He tries another time. Again, it fails.

Okay. This would be okay. He would wait it out, and Caesar would come again, and he would be okay.

Except, no one came.

He lies there, awake, sometimes, and maybe falling asleep for a little while other times, for _days_ on end. It gets to him, after a bit. He was lying prone, unable to move his limbs, surrounded by darkness. It would be okay, he tells himself. Someone would come. Even if it was to torture him again, someone would come.

No one came.

It would be okay. Even if it was Caesar, even if he came, just someone. Anyone.

No one came.

And he would welcome anyone at this point. He closes his eyes in acceptance, breathing out a slow sigh. Even if it meant letting the sinister pair of eyes back into his mind.

Right as he thinks this, Gengar's laugh sounds from the corner.

He's looking down at Tama, but something isn't right.

Her wide eyes are locked onto his, lit up with fright. Her hands shake as they grip the edge of her shirt. There's a smear of blood at her lips.

Shanks blanches as he catches sight of it, dropping immediately into a crouch. "Tama, what hap-"

She lets out a high-pitched noise and stumbles back, terror filling her face. They both stay frozen like that, facing each other. Finally, Tama is the one to break the silence.

"I thought you came here to rescue me," she whispers, and her gaze drops.

Shanks looks down, and his eyes catch on the same blood staining Tama's face, covering his fingertips.

His mind is under too much of a haze for him to do anything about the Lucario before him. The pokemon is being subjected to wave upon wave of hypnosis from a Gengar, enough that it was doubled over.

He's slow to process this fact, and his head feels heavy as he turns to see a sickly-pale man cackling at his side. He thinks, perhaps, he's supposed to know who the man is. He can't seem to recall.

The Lucario cries out and falls to its knees, and Shanks frowns as he recognizes the voice of his own pokemon.

He's standing at the end of a long corridor. When he looks down at his form, he sees it's made up of his aura. He watches as it begins to fluctuate, and then turn from a calm blue to a ripe yellow. It almost seems to glitch out of focus, like it was under too much stress.

He looks up to see Luffy standing at the end of the hall.

Luffy reaches out for Shanks, his expression morphing into concern, and then distress. But he fades from view before he can reach.

Tama takes his place. Her hair is ratty, hanging limp around her shoulders, and her thin clothes are torn. She looks very afraid, staring straight at him.

Chimney takes Tama's place, her usually-bright smile still intact. Or so it would seem, until it starts morphing into a frown, and her eyes darken.

Marguerite comes into view next, looking worse-for-wear. Her face is beat up, all the skin showing mottled. The clothes she does sport are dirtied and ripped. Her eyes are very tired as she gazes back at him.

A rush of memory flies by so fast Luffy can't catch all of it.

He sees a woman with long, sleek black hair, asking Shanks to retrieve Marguerite. An older lady stands by an ice breaker and scratches her head, saying Chimney was just gone when Shanks asks where the girl was. Tsuru's tears fall as she sets down her tea, whimpering that Tama must be so scared. Shanks sets his hand over hers and looks her in the eye. "I'll bring her back," he promises.

Then the scene jerks out of focus, replaced by Tama's wide eyes and blood-covered cheek.

He sees Shanks arrive at the entrance to Stark Mountain and watches as Lucario blasts the door open. They're charging down a hallway when it's suddenly sealed from both sides, and gas is released into the enclosed space.

Shanks wakes up to Caeser leering at him. He jerks his hands up to defend himself, except they don't follow, because they're bound to a table.

The scene glitches, and a bright stone comes into view, sitting in a crest deep within the volcano. A hand is reaching out for it.

Shanks closes his eyes, unable to make sense of the stone. His mind feels like a swamp; he can barely move through it. So he gives up.

Luffy's eyes snap open as the room comes back into view. His face feels wet. He looks over to see Shanks attempting to stand, and the tear tracks down his face match Luffy's.

* * *

Caesar's gasp fills the room.

"That's a Type:Null!" he exclaims, pointing to the pokemon.

"We found a way to break the mask. Together," Law tells him, glancing to Silvally. "Silvally evolved, and the mask shattered."

Silvally growls again, shifting into a battle stance.

Caesar growls back in response to Law's words. "You must be the brat that took a Null back in Alola." His teeth pull back in a snarl. "If controlling them was that simple, I would've been able to figure it out! Enough of this, I'll give you your battle. Then I can finally _eliminate_ you in the process."

"Heh, funny." Law smirks. "I feel the same way."

"Dark pulse!" Caesar calls out, and Silvally dodges so the dark ray hits the floor instead. It's still in the air when Law calls for an iron head attack, and lets out a roar, kicking the air to reach Gengar and slamming head-first into the ghost-type.

Gengar is sent flying clear into the opposite wall, the sound of screeching metal and crunching plastic ringing out. "Not the catwalk!" Caesar hisses. "Fix it, fix it!"

Gengar gathers itself from the dent in the wall, levitating in the air. It uses psychic to repair the bend and split in the walkway, then turns around and raises its arms, and Silvally is raised as well, body hovering in the air due to psychic. Silvally is slammed into the ground, then picked back up again and rammed into Law, the force of the impact sending him crashing into one of the machines on the far side of the room. Just as the breath is slammed out of him, the machine tips over and crashes to the ground, leaving his head spinning as he falls with it.

Gengar dives close for a poison jab and Silvally rushes to its feet, countering with x-scissor with a loud grunt. They're both sent reeling back.

Law pries his eyes open and tries to breathe as the dust settles. He gets up from the floor on shaky legs, his head reeling, and blood running from a cut on his back. He lists to the side, but manages to hold an arm out and use another machine for support to come to a stand. "Air slash!" he calls, and Gengar moves back but not fast enough, the attack hitting.

Caesar calls for a shadow punch and Gengar smirks, fading from view. "Be on your guard," he says to Silvally, eyes glued to their fight even from his distance. He reaches back with his other hand and feels along his back for the cut, wincing when he finds it. Must've picked it up from-

Gengar appears right in front of Silvally and sends it flying with the attack. Law's eyes widen, and he calls out to his pokemon in panic, attention caught until the rubble in front of him shifts and he has enough time to jerk his head to face Caesar before the scientist is smiling and holding up a dagger, and then thrusting out and embedding it into Law's shoulder.

Law cries out, pain blooming immediately. Caesar laughs, twisting the hilt, and Law gasps loudly, slumping back against the machine.

"You got distracted!" Caesar says, grinning ear to ear. "Hmm? What was that? One isn't enough?" He takes out a second knife, toying with it in his other hand. "I can fix that."

He jerks his arm upward to dig the blade into Law's other shoulder, but Law reacts just in time, reaching up and stopping the blade with his hand. His teeth clench as the metal digs into his fingers, but he holds steadfast. Caesar frowns, then growls, pushing back, but they're caught in a deadlock.

Law feels his strength fading when Silvally barrels into Caesar, wrestling him away from Law. Law cries out as the blade digs further into his fingers from the force. Blood runs fast down his arm, and his breathing turns shallow. He grits his teeth and reaches up to grasp the hilt of the other knife, wincing as it jars his shoulder. His fingers are shredded, but he manages to remove the knife with the strength his hand still had, dropping it to the floor. He falls to his knees after, blood gushing from his shoulder. "T-Thanks," he gasps out.

His vision swims, but he manages to grasp at his shoulder. Except, it's with his injured hand, and both are bleeding. To his left, Caesar lets out an ear-splitting scream and Law jerks his head to see Silvally pinning the scientist to the ground, using a crush claw attack to shatter Caesar's arm. The knife falls from his grasp.

Law grits his teeth, staggering as he stands but still remaining on his feet. The fight wasn't over yet.

* * *

Luffy lets out a strangled sound as he lands rough on his side. Aipom calls out for him, but the pokemon is focused on dealing with Lucario, so Luffy is ultimately left for himself. He looks up to see Shanks firing another aura sphere at him and throws his hands up, generating an aura bubble to deflect it. The act steals the rest of his breath away, and he grits his teeth as the effort of keeping it up makes itself known.

The aura sphere careens off the side of the shield and Luffy is thrown back as his barrier shatters, not able to stay activated after the force it endured. He flips over and gathers his legs underneath him, working on making sure the spots in his vision don't increase. This wasn't going to work. He was low on energy, he was hurt, _Shanks_ was hurt, and the situation now wasn't good for either of them.

He has an epiphany as he works his body into a standing position. There was that Gengar from Shanks' memories, the one who first put him under. Was the pokemon the one controlling Shanks? If he took out the Gengar, would Shanks go back to normal?

It was worth a shot, at any rate. He turns to look behind him, one arm wrapped around his midsection. The door was still locked, but he was right here, so he would take the chance. With his other hand he takes out a pokeball and releases Munchlax. "I need the door open, can you do it?" he asks, and Munchlax turns to face it.

After a moment he nods and steps forward, and Luffy watches as he lashes out with a chip away attack. But nothing happens, not even a dent left in the door. Munchlax grunts and steps back, then charges forward with a bodyslam. Again, the door stays stationary, no damage taken. Munchlax tries again and Luffy turns to watch the pokemon fight in a corner of the room. "Aipom!" he calls, getting the pokemon's attention. He gestures for it to come over, then has Munchlax go help out with Lucario.

Aipom tries the same thing, hitting at the door with focus punch. But nothing is working, and he's growing more frustrated. One more reckless idea presents itself and Luffy motions Aipom away from the door, moving to stand in front of it himself.

He takes a breath and turns around, facing the room. Shanks is far off, breathing heavy again, and Luffy suspects he's bleeding. But when Luffy calls out, Shanks' head whips around to face him. "Get ready to run," he mutters to Aipom, then raises his hands up above his head. "Shanks!" he calls out. "I'm right here! Aim here!"

Aipom makes a panicked noise as Luffy waves his arms around, drawing attention to himself. Shanks, still under whatever mind spell, doesn't waste time, firing off another aura sphere. Luffy dives out of the way just in time so the attack crashes into the door instead, kicking up smoke. He scrambles up to run to it, assured the aura sphere had blown a hole through, but when the smoke clears and he's a couple feet away, he stops.

The door is still intact. Still locked.

"No. No!" he screams. He bangs a fist against the metal. That was his best chance! How was he supposed to get out now-

He's grabbed by the shoulders before he can finish the thought, and then someone slams him sideways into the door. Luffy cries out, turns to see red hair, and then Shanks is grabbing him in another chokehold. Thinking fast, Luffy grabs a fistful of his hair and tugs, rocking his body with the momentum. Shanks is knocked off-balance and they both crash into the ground, separated.

Luffy coughs, holding his bruised throat. It takes a moment to regain his breath, but once he's got it, he moves to sit on Shanks' chest before the other can move again. With Luffy's weight and his injuries, Shanks manages to stay down. He does squirm though, trying to get free.

Luffy concentrates and then gasps as he sees Shanks' aura. It was fluctuating, something he'd never seen before. Almost like he was at war with himself.

"This isn't like you!" Luffy screams. "You need to snap out of it!" He grabs the sides of Shanks' face and pins his head in place, leaning down to look him in the eyes. "Please, you have to get better. You-"

Maybe his weight shifted when he moves, because Shanks manages to flip them over, Luffy's back slammed hard into the ground. He grits his teeth, rocks forward, and flips them back. His hands land on Shank's chest and push him down, and with one last burst he slams his aura out, the force knocking Shank's head into the ground. His eyes turned dazed, and Luffy takes a moment to recover, breathing labored.

Shanks goes slack but Luffy still pins him down, convinced it wouldn't last long. He reaches out and probes, watches the fluctuating aura. "Shanks," he breathes. "What did they do to you?"

He turns to watch all three of his pokemon fight Lucario, looking at his aura. It was hazy as well, not as bad as Shanks', but enough for Luffy to realize he was under instead of just following orders. "Knock him unconscious," he calls to Chimchar, and the fire-type nods before returning to the fight. Lucario was strong, but Luffy had faith. There were three of them, and they appeared to have the upper hand. If Lucario was out, he couldn't do any damage. If Shanks just returned him, he could be released again.

Shanks.

Luffy turns back, looking at Shanks' still-dazed expression. "Shanks, it's Luffy," he tells him, leaning closer. "It's me. It's your student. Please, _please_, recognize me. I know you're not well-" He slaps Shanks' hands down again, frowning. "I know you're not in your right mind. _Please_ hear my voice. Please!"

Shanks doesn't respond, of course. There's also no recognition in his gaze, though his aura does twitch, like it recognized the familiar pull of Luffy's own.

"I'm right here," Luffy breathes, pressing closer. "I'm with you. _Please._"

He's closes his eyes, reaches out. "We're getting Tama out. And all those girls you showed me. We're getting everyone out. I'm getting _you_ out."

A _bang_ on the door makes Luffy's breath catch, and he looks back as another _bang_ sounds, just before the door slides open. He moves back, positions himself over Shanks, as two women come stumbling in.

Or, one does. The other, a rather disheveled blonde, is being carried on her back. The redhead that stumbles in looks up, her mouth open to speak but no words coming out as she cuts herself off, head swiveling to assess the situation. After spying Lucario brawling with Luffy's pokemon in the corner, she braces the girl she's carrying with one arm and reaches back to snag a pokeball. "Aromatisse," she calls out, releasing a very pink and very strange-looking pokemon. "Fairy wind."

The pokemon -Aromatisse- looks to where its trainer has pointed to Lucario, and then nods, chirping. It hovers in the air, moving forward a little, and then lashes out with an arm. Luffy turns to watch as a wind picks up, curves around the room, and then slams against Lucario, knocking the pokemon against the wall. It slumps down, knocked out, and Luffy turns back to look at the girls again, who come forward.

"Luffy?" The redhead asks, waving an arm for Aromatisse to stand down. Luffy, still wary, just manages to nod. The girl hikes up the blonde, who groans from the movement, head lolling, and then nods back to Luffy.

"I'm Koala. Marianne told me about you." She inclines her head to Shanks. "Is he . . ?"

"Shanks," Luffy answers, relaxing at the mention of Marianne. "He's still under control. I think it's by a Gengar?"

"The director has one," Koala mutters, stepping closer. "Okay, we can try something." She crouches down, does her best to deposit the blonde to the floor, and then slides closer, beckoning Aromatisse forward. "My pokemon has an ability called Aroma Veil. It works to deflect attacks that affect the mental state." She nods to the pokemon and it comes to settle on Shanks' other side, near Luffy. "Let's see if that works?"

Luffy nods, but doesn't relax his hold on Shanks. Aromatisse closes its eyes and hums, and its body begins to glow, just a bit. He watches as Shanks' aura begins to stabilize, little-by-little, no longer fluctuating. But it's still yellow, and he frowns when Aromatisse leans back.

"Something's still wrong," he mutters.

"It did something, though." Koala hums. "Okay, try calm mind," she tells Aromatisse.

Shanks' eyes slip shut as he falls unconscious. Luffy shifts, stifling his panicked noise. This was a good thing. He releases his grip on Shanks, lets himself relax a little.

"Anything?" Koala asks.

"No." Luffy shakes his head. "There's still . . I don't know. His aura is still unsettled."

Koala blinks. "Aura? Like, a mind thing?" She casts a glance to Aromatisse. "Would it . . help, if you could talk to him?"

"What do you mean?"

"We can send your conscious into Shanks' mind." She purses her lips. "Aromatisse can. She has a psychic move. I'll watch over your body."

Luffy doesn't hesitate, jerking his head into a nod. "Okay." He slides off of Shanks' chest, takes a deep breath. "Okay."

Koala nods to Aromatisse, and an energy gathers around Luffy.

Then, his vision goes dark.

When he becomes aware again, it's dark, all around him.

There's a sniffling to his right, and he turns to look to meet darkness.

It's not until he looks down that he sees the small boy curled up into a ball.

A yellow aura flickers around his form. Luffy crouches down, his eyes widening. There was no mistaking that shock red hair. "Shanks . . ?" he asks, voice unsure.

The boy stops sniffling, tensing his arms. Then, slowly, he looks up, blinking. "Luffy?" he whispers, voice very small.

"Yeah." Luffy nods. "It's me."

Shanks' lips curl down into a frown, and his eyes begin to water. "Luffy!" he gasps. "I'm scared!"

Luffy reaches out, gathers one of Shanks' hands in his own. It's strange, how much bigger his are compared to his mentor's. "There's no reason to be scared. Nothing's here."

Shanks' aura flares as he shakes his head, scooting closer to Luffy. "That-That pokemon!"

"Gengar?" Luffy tips his head, looks around. "It's not here. Nothing is, except us."

"It could come back. It always comes back," Shanks argues. He shivers, body curling back in on itself. "It leers at me, and those red eyes are scary. I feel like I'm drowning, when it looks at me like that."

Luffy, feeling a surge of protectiveness, draws the boy closer. "It's not around anymore. And it won't be back, not with me here."

Shanks clenches a fist to Luffy's shirt, drawing the fabric close. "But you're not really here, right?"

"Huh?" He looks down. "What do you mean?"

"You're just in my head. When I wake up again, I'll be alone." Shanks' lips press together. "I can't deal with that anymore. Being alone. I don't like that Gengar. It makes me feel weird. It makes me do things I don't wanna do." He shivers, pressing closer to Luffy. "Like with Tama . ."

"Shanks." Luffy waits until the boy is looking up at him. "I _am_ here. I'm right beside you, just like I am now, waiting for you to wake up."

"You're lying."

"You don't really think that." His lips quirk up. "I'm a horrible liar. Haven't you said that yourself?"

Shanks, slowly, smiles as well. "Yeah. You really are." Then his expression becomes carefully blank. "I'm still scared."

"You'll be okay. I promise. Have I ever broken a promise?"

"No . ."

"Then why would I start now?"

Shanks takes a few moments to watch him. "You're . . really out there? Waiting for me?"

Luffy nods. "You're not alone anymore, Shanks. I'm here now."

And he watches, as the aura around Shanks morphs, changing from yellow to green, and then ever so slowly to blue. Shanks nods, his expression still timid, but also more sure, now. "Okay. I believe you."

Luffy blinks open his eyes and moves his head. Koala's gazing down at him, and helps him to sit up so he's no longer balanced against her shoulder. Across from them, Aromatisse chirps, slumping down to the floor. Koala smiles over at her pokemon in thanks, then turns back to Luffy. "So?"

In response, Shanks groans.

Luffy, Koala, and the now-conscious Marguerite turn to watch as Shanks wakes up, lips curling into a frown as his limbs twitch. He lifts his head and winces. To Koala's right, Marguerite snickers, eyeing all his injuries and then glancing down at her own mottled skin.

"They got us good, huh?" she mumbles.

Luffy waits until Shanks has shuffled into a sitting position before lurching forward, tackling his mentor into a hug. Shanks freezes, expression twisted in pain, and stays like that for a long moment.

Then, he wraps his arms around Luffy in return. "Sorry," he whispers.

"Shut up," Luffy mumbles. "It's not your fault."

Shanks smiles. "I was right. You _are_ ready," he says, and Luffy pulls back to look at him. A question hangs in his eyes.

"The reason I called you here, to Sinnoh," Shanks says quietly. "Is to give you a Riolu egg."

* * *

Law's hidden in a space between two machines, on the ground, trying his best to staunch the bleeding from his shoulder. The noise of the pokemon battle covers his breathing, but he still winces if he presses down hard enough, his torn fingers crying out in pain. His legs are bent at the knees and sat up in front of him, leaning a little when he turns his head to peek out from behind the metal.

Caesar's laugh rings out, and then Law moves back a little as the man himself appears. He's limping around with his crushed arm swinging at his side, turning his head this way and that, searching. "Come on out, now! You intruder! I know you're not dead yet, and I don't like to leave jobs unfinished."

Law ducks his head back, shuffling further into the space. The sound of screeching metal reaches his ears as one of Gengar's attacks gets deflected by Silvally, spiraling until it crashed into one of the bookshelves. He wasn't concerned about his pokemon, Silvally could defend itself. But if he didn't do anything soon, Caesar would find him.

He shivers and pulls his legs closer, lying his face on his knees. If Umbreon were here, she would keep him company. Keep him from going insane. Keep him from remembering being in a similar position, so long ago.

Caesar calls out again, and his voice is a lot closer than the last time. Law makes a decision and moves to a crouch, slipping out from his hiding spot and moving further towards the wall. He moves until he's near one of the raised walkways, out of the cluster of machines.

"Do you think you can win this fight because you have a _god_ on your team?" Caesar calls out. Law grits his teeth. Silvally wasn't a god, and it wasn't a project, either. It was a pokemon, with its own will and intent. But he wasn't going to rise to Caesar's words, wasn't going to take the bait. He moves his hand to press his wrist against his shoulder wound, eyes still on the machines.

Footsteps suddenly sound above him, ringing from the metal grate. Law looks up and over to see Sabo pelting down the walkway, heading straight for the upper panel. They must've found out where this lab was, because Law hadn't had a chance to send out a message.

"There's _another_ intruder?" Caesar exclaims. "Gengar, get rid of him already!"

Gengar turns and fires out a dark pulse, and Law does some quick thinking. "Silvally, air slash!" he calls out. Silvally's attack cuts off the dark pulse and then it's back to jumping at the ghost-type, and their attention to the others is cut off.

Law looks up at Sabo, who's picking himself up from the grate, having thrown himself down to avoid getting hit. In turn, Sabo looks down at him. It's clearly the same person he saw at the marsh, and the same face from Luffy's picture. The burn scar he sported stretched from his cheek to his forehead, coating one eye. He could see more damaged skin disappearing into a shirt collar, and wondered briefly what the story was. Luffy had mentioned an accident, but that was all he ever got.

Sabo jerks his head in a nod that Law takes as thanks. The he moves again towards the research panel, and Law turns as Caesar finally appears from the machinery. He'd known calling out like that would be a risk, but he was prepared now. He turns his body to face the scientist, dropping his injured hand from his shoulder.

"Our battle's not over yet. Focus on me instead."

* * *

Politoed pushes open the double-doors and Marianne slips inside, glancing out quickly to make sure no one was around to see. There are many pokeballs lining the shelves, and she makes her way over to the dragon-type section quickly. She's lucky that they're all labeled by type, and on a higher shelf, there's only one pokeball sitting in the dual type ground slot.

"Smeargle," she mutters, and the pokemon untangles itself from her body. With a gesture it climbs up the shelves and swipes the correct pokeball off the shelf, tossing it down to its trainer. Marianne hums once it's in her hands and moves to exit the room, her two pokemon right behind her. She heads off to check one more place the little girl could be, the pokeball clutched tightly in her hands.

There's a light coming through the crack in the bottom of the door that Tama has been staring at for a very long time.

She can't recall where she is. All she knows is that it's very dark and she's completely alone. She can't say how long she's been here, only that it feels like forever. Gible hadn't cooperated with the scary men, so they turned to her as his trainer. But Tama wouldn't force Gible to do anything, so they locked her up here.

The light from the crack in the door had appeared some time ago, along with the sound of hurried footsteps. The steps never come past the door directly, instead echoing from further down the hall, so she can't always hear them. But the light is a constant. And in the complete darkness, it's one thing to focus on to keep herself sane.

Footsteps sound again and she vaguely perks up, raises her head a little. It takes effort she just doesn't have, so she sags down again, lets her eyelids droop. Best not to get her hopes-

A shadow covers some of the light. Tama perks up again, watching it intently.

And then the door is busted in.

She flinches back in her seat, her eyes squinting as the sudden light blinds her. The door was old and wooden, not like the automatic ones with keypads she'd seen. Guess that made it easier to bust down, but who would want to? There was no one else, now that Shanks-

A Politoed croaks out and Tama moves her head to look at it. It stood proudly to the side of the door, forefeet on its hips. It glances up at her, but then her hair falls into her face, hiding the pokemon from view. Tama frowns at this, trying to shake her head a little, but the action is too strenuous. She'd use her hands, but it was hard to when they were tied behind her back.

She manages to roll her head so her hair covered only one side, and that's when a woman steps forward into view. "Are you Tama?" she asks.

Tama nods. That was her name. That was right. She opens her mouth to affirm this, but her throat is too dry to speak, so the only thing that comes out is a small cough.

"Hi, Tama." She comes closer. "My name is Marianne. My friend told me you had been separated from the other girls. Do you know them? Chimney? Okay, what about Aisa? Anana?" Tama nods at each of the names, remembering them but not exactly the faces. That was pretty standard, though.

She had been in the dark for a long time.

"Let me help you with these." Marianne comes around and loosens her bindings, letting the chain fall to the floor. Tama sighs, glad to be free of the cold metal. She brings her wrists around to her front and rubs them, wincing at the indentions in her skin. After a moment she pulls her hair back from her face, glad to be able to see fully again.

Marianne comes back around and now that Tama has adjusted to the light, it's easy to see her face. She has freckles dotting her cheeks, and red hair pulled into two braids. She's dressed like the others, but she had released her from her binds, so she couldn't be like them, right?

"Let's get you down," Marianne whispers, and Tama allows her to pick her up and help her down from the chair she'd sat in for so long now. Tama nods her thanks, unable to do much else. She still felt so tired. She tries to move forward a step and collapses, only saved from falling by Marianne. Marianne hums for a moment and then turns around, gesturing to her back. "Climb on."

Tama reaches out with her arms, but then she hesitates. The last time she had trusted someone, it hadn't ended well. The woman had been nice so far, but so had-

So had-

She bites down on her lip, drops her arms. Marianne turns her head back to look, catches sight of Tama's expression, and turns around fully. She's crouched down, but now she lowers herself fully to the floor, just at Tama's height.

"I'm here to get you out," she tells Tama. "Your grandmother wants to see you. Don't you want to see her, too?"

Tama looks back up, her eyes widening. Marianne nods, understanding. "Yes, she's waiting. Come with me, okay? You'll see her soon. I promise."

Tama climbs on after that, wrapping her arms as tight as she can around Marianne's neck. It's not very tight, but they would make do.

"G-Gible," she manages to whisper, bending down close to Marianne's ear so she could hear. Marianne nods and gestures to her other pokemon, a Smeargle. Smeargle steps forward and Tama spots a pokeball in its paws. She reaches for it and brings it closer, rubbing it against her cheek. She sniffs as tears run down her face, unable to contain her joy.

Marianne smiles and comes to a stand, hefting the girl higher up on her back. She motions for her pokemon to take the lead and they all exit the room. It was time to get out and regroup.

* * *

Law is on his knees again when Silvally comes to stand in front of him. The pokemon growls sharply at their opposition, and Law can't help but admire its white mane standing tall and proud. He reaches up with his butchered fingers and runs them gently through the white fur until Silvally turns back to look at him. Law brings up a second pokeball with his other hand, nodding to the pokemon. He had this one covered.

Gengar blasts a pulse of psychic at them and Silvally blocks it with x-scissor, dispersing the attack. After another glance back at Law, it charges at the ghost-type, leaving its trainer for himself.

"What's this?" Caesar growls out, eyeing the pokeball in Law's hand as the trainer rises once again.

"The other thing I had to protect, that night," he answers. Umbreon appears in a flash of light at Law's side, causing Caesar to jump. He nearly drops the knife he'd been holding with his good hand, but recovers just in time and grips it harder instead.

"_Oh_, so you're just gonna have another pokemon protect you, huh? I see how it is-"

He breaks off as Law collapses again, breathing turned ragged. He goes to hold his shoulder again, blood still dripping from the wound. Umbreon turns around to look at him, mewling out in concern. Law shakes his head, still breathing rough. He was fine. Well -he would _be_ fine. There were other things to worry about.

The next moment Umbreon's ears are perked up, and she turns to face Gengar. The ghost-type releases another large psychic attack that slips past Silvally, and Umbreon lowers her front half to jump, but her gaze is careful -she's unsure about blocking all of it.

Law turns his gaze toward it just in time to see a massive heat wave attack slam into it from the side, sending both attacks away from the two of them. He jerks his head from the direction it came from to see a Charizard on the edge of the upper panel. Sabo is beside him, and he nods to Law before moving back to the material the panel housed. Law breathes out a sigh of relief at this. Save an ally, get the favor returned. Worked for him.

Umbreon snarls at Caesar as the scientist dares to step closer and he halts, legs shaking. "This isn't fighting fair!" he shouts. Law can't help but bark out a laugh, casting a cursory glance to his wounds.

"Now's not the time for a fair fight." He turns his head to watch Silvally's battle, then gestures toward Gengar. "Umbreon, use shadow ball," he calls out. Umbreon reacts fast, firing off the attack as Gengar is distracted by Silvally. It hits dead-on, sending the pokemon spinning, and Law lets himself have an internal moment of glee.

Then Gengar winks out of view and appears right in front of Umbreon, a scowl on its face and an arm raised up in preparation for a poison jab. Law gasps, reaching forward, but they were out of reach. Umbreon lowers herself, not backing down, and releases a confuse ray before the attack can land. Gengar stumbles back and Law breathes out a sigh, and then Umbreon kicks out with a feint attack, sending the pokemon flying. Silvally appears behind it in the air, ramming into it with an iron head, and Gengar crashes into the ground.

It doesn't get back up.

Law turns back to Umbreon. "Thank-"

The sound of a gun cocking cuts him off. His eyes narrow.

Caesar's pointing a gun at him, and when Law turns his eyes stare down the barrel. "Fine," he mutters. "Then I won't fight fair either."

He clicks the safety off and Law forgets to breathe, his eyes widening. Two shots fire in quick succession, and he's still not breathing as Caesar's eyes roll back and he collapses to the floor. There's noise above him, but his ears are still ringing, so he can't make it out.

He manages to tear his eyes away from the blood pooling beneath Caesar's body, looking up at Sabo just as he lowers his gun to his side. "What?" Law calls, and Sabo grins down at him.

"I said, that's how you kill a bastard."

The Charizard next to Sabo huffs in agreement, flapping its wings as if to say 'good riddance'. Sabo throws his legs over the pokemon's back and Charizard flies them to the ground floor with little effort.

Silvally and Umbreon rush over to Law, looking worriedly to his wounds. Umbreon pokes her nose at his shoulder and he winces, so she pulls back. Sabo comes up and crouches down in front of him, lips pressed tightly together.

"I have bandages," Law manages to say. "They're in my bag. Over there-" He gestures to the far side of the room. Sabo shakes his head, gesturing the pokemon out of the way.

"That's not gonna work for your shoulder, not for what you need now." He digs out a bandana from his pocket and, with a small glance of sympathy, wraps it around Law's wound. He ties it tight in a tourniquet and Law groans out in pain, head falling forward. "Sorry," Sabo mutters.

Law shakes his head. "Thank you. Did you . . get what you needed?"

"Yeah." Sabo jerks his head in a stiff nod. He finishes tying the cloth and leans back. "Just what I needed. I'm gonna destroy the rest." He stands back up and then helps Law to his feet, gesturing to the lab. "Not like everything isn't wrecked already, but like, permanently destroy it."

With Sabo's help, they all move to the door, grabbing Law's bag along the way. They turn to observe the wrecked lab, and Law returns Silvally and, with some regret, Umbreon as well.

"We'll get your wounds fixed up once we're all together," Sabo murmurs. "Striker, we're ready!"

Law hums in acknowledgement, then watches as Charizard uses flamethrower, setting each part of the lab ablaze. They watch it for a moment, watch as it all gathers and everything is ignited. It feels satisfying, watching everything that had went into the project go up in flames.

They leave before too long and Law nods to the doors of the other labs as they pass. "There's people in there. And pokemon. I said I would get them out."

Sabo nods. "We will. Not right now, we don't have the numbers, but it won't be much longer. A few more hours, at most."

A beeping sounds from Sabo's person and he reaches inside a pocket with the arm not supporting Law to dig out the same small radio button Marianne had used. "Yes?"

"_All the girls are secured. We're taking them aboveground. Koala is with Luffy in the eastern sector, subfloor three._"

"Roger. I'll head there." He pockets the button again and glances to Law. "Can you make it upstairs?"

"Yeah." He nods. His thoughts were elsewhere.

Wondering if Luffy was okay.

* * *

The room they enter into is by far the largest Law has seen in the compound. There's a group of people gathered on the floor. He can make out a redhead, a blonde, and an older man that must be Shanks. But then his eyes find Luffy and that's all he focuses on.

"Luffy!" Law calls, stumbling forward. Luffy looks up and his expression brightens as he spots Law. Law moves until he's right in front of Luffy and then falls to his knees, reaching out with one arm to wrap the boy in a hug. Luffy returns it, only wincing slightly, and Law frowns in sympathy. They were both banged up.

"You're bleeding!" Luffy whispers, and Law shakes his head.

"I'm alright."

"Good." His hands tighten around Law's middle. "I'm glad."

They separate soon enough and the blonde moves forward to resume attending to Luffy's wounds. She actually looks the worst out of everyone, but she's concentrated, so Law leaves her to it. "I'll help you next," she mumbles, and Law nods, sitting down for real.

"Marguerite," Shanks mutters. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you out. I-"

"Shh," she hushes him. "It's behind us. We're both okay now." _You don't have to feel guilty, _she doesn't say. _It was out of your control._

"Marianne and Bon are waiting by a back entrance," Koala tells Sabo. She's not loud, but Luffy manages to hear her anyway, perking up.

"I can't wait to meet Tama!" he says, excitement evident in his tired voice. Law lets out a small laugh, and Luffy turns to him, lips quirking up in a grin. "You do too! Don't act like you don't!"

"I do," Law admits. He gestures for his pack and Sabo slides it over. Marguerite turns from Luffy and Law hands her a few supplies. Koala shuffles over too, and together everyone gets a little emergency treatment. Law's hand is bandaged up, Shanks' head and leg too. Marguerite's arms and midsection get slathered in a mixture that stings on her layers of bruises, but she manages a smile at the end, noting that it would feel better soon. Luffy and his Floatzel -which was a small surprise for Law to see- each munch on an oran berry, mostly just needing their strength back.

Law's shoulder is properly wrapped up, but Luffy still insists they go to a hospital back in Veilstone. Law is not inclined to disagree.

Once everyone is good enough to walk, they all come to a stand, supporting each other. They had been here long enough. And with Koala and Sabo promising the authorities were on their way to take care of the rest, they can head out their own way with ease.

Luffy doesn't miss the chance to launch himself at Sabo, before they all leave the large room. He holds him close as Sabo's arms wrap back around him immediately. "I missed you," Luffy murmurs, and Sabo hums.

"I did too, kid."

* * *

All twelve of them gather on the shores east of the volcano's mountain range. The sand is dull and grimy here, and enough twigs and rubbish are mixed in that Law acknowledges the ritual of leaving nature be didn't quite work out so well in the Battle Zone.

Luffy is glued to Shanks' side, supporting him as he stands mostly upright. He's talking, though, with all the little girls they had rescued from the facility.

"Your grandmother's really creepy," he tells Anana, bluntly. "The one in Solaceon."

Anana just hums, her deadpan expression not changing.

"Laki and everyone in your village are worried," he say to Aisa, who brightens at this. "You might even have a-" Law pokes him in the side and he shuts his mouth, teeth clanking together. He winces, but recovers fast. "I mean! It's a surprise. You'll see when you get home!"

"Caesar is dead," Sabo says, gathered with his team and Marguerite. He puts a finger to his head, taps twice. "Made sure of it."

"Good riddance," Marguerite mutters. "That man was downright insane. You know, he'd been shouting all day today about how it was his birthday, but that's not right, it's _my_ birthday!"

"Happy birthday!" Bon says, and Marianne kicks him in the shin, scoffing.

"Have some tact."

Law is resting on the sand, still woozy from the blood loss. "Tsuru is waiting for you," he tells Tama, who's sitting across from him, tracing shapes in the sand. She smiles, acknowledging his words, but doesn't look up from where her gaze is focused on her Gible's pokeball, still held tightly in her hand. " . .Did you meet my grandma?" she finally asks, quietly.

"Yeah, I did." Law looks to the pokeball as well, so he doesn't notice as Tama raises her eyes to peer at him. "She spoke very highly of you. You and your Gible."

Shanks reaches an arm down and ruffles Tama's hair, loose in the wind. She lifts her head slowly, the weight of his hand still there. "I'm sorry," Shanks murmurs. "I'm sorry for failing you."

Tama shakes her head. "I forgive you," she says softly. She sniffs, raising her hand from the sand to swipe at her eyes. Shanks' frown slowly turns into a small smile.

"The ship will be here soon," Koala mentions. "I told them to be ready for the people used in the project. We'll need to transport them to medical personnel if they can't, uh-" She falters. " . . function on their own." Her group falls silent, the air awkward, until they spot Shanks crouching down next to Tama. Maybe there was a chance, if he made it out. They couldn't just give up on these people. At least with the third lab in ruins, there would be no chance of Project Persuasion reviving.

"Oh! I know why you look so familiar now!" Chimney pipes up, pointing at Luffy, and capturing everyone's attention. "You look like that Dragon guy who came to talk with granny in Snowpoint!"

Luffy's brows raise. "Dra-?"

Sabo hums, cutting him off. "About that. Luffy, I have something important to tell you." Luffy turns, attention now captured, and Sabo breathes out a sigh. "Well. You see. Dragon is actually in the region."

Luffy gasps. "Dad's here?!"

"He's back on the mainland."

"Why? What's he doing?"

Sabo's eyes narrow, expression turning serious. "He's looking for Giratina."

* * *

There's a large chamber deep in the ruins of Sendoff Spring. The air is eerie, like he's being watched by a bigger presence than when he first entered. The fog hangs here as well, wholly unnatural still, but it's less dense than before. Here, he can make out the tall statue in the room's center and walk until he's standing right before it, gazing up at it's might. A depiction of sprawling wings and a curving body greet him, and somewhere far, far off, he thinks he hears an otherworldly screeching.

His hand comes out to trace the inscription on the base of the stature, eyeing the old characters carved there. The fog recedes, and the watchful presence lingers, grows stronger, even. Like the statue itself is peering at him.

Dragon steps back a pace, looking right back into stone eyes.

He finally found what he had been searching for.

* * *

line breaks arent working apparently? i have no idea but uh. god there are so many and now there just _arent_ yknow. sorry if this turns out weird bc of it. i have no idea why they arent working.

here are the notes for pt 4. take out the brackets.

cheswirl [dot) tumblr [dot) com /post/187969942307

reviews are appreciated!


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